Bangladesh cricketer faces shocking suspension under ICC anti-corruption code

In a shocking turn of events, the International Cricket Council (ICC) banned Bangladesh player Shohaly Akhter from all forms of cricket after she was found violating five provisions of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. It is learnt that the ban will be in place for a period of five years.  Shohaly is facing serious charges of match/spot-fixing and has reportedly admitted to her wrongdoing. 

During her active playing days, Shohaly was approached by bookies and had allegedly played her part in influencing the results of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 matches held in South Africa. Five provisions as set by the ICC were contravened which subsequently resulted in the suspension. They are as follows: 

Article 2.1.1: Fixing or contriving in any way or otherwise influencing improperly or being a party to any agreement or effort to fix or contrive in any way or otherwise influence improperly, the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of any International Match, including (without limitation) by deliberately underperforming therein.

Article 2.1.3: Seeking, accepting, offering or agreeing to accept any bribe or other Reward to (a) fix or to contrive in any way or otherwise to influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of any International Match or (b) to ensure for Betting or other corrupt purposes the occurrence of a particular incident in an International Match.

Article 2.1.4: Directly or indirectly soliciting, inducing, enticing, instructing, persuading, encouraging or intentionally facilitating any Participant to breach any of the foregoing provisions of this Article 2.1.

Article 2.4.4: Failing to disclose to the ACU (without unnecessary delay) full details of any approaches or invitations received by the Participant to engage in Corrupt Conduct under the Anti-Corruption Code.

Article 2.4.7: Obstructing or delaying any investigation that may be carried out by the ACU in relation to possible Corrupt Conduct under the Anti-Corruption Code (by any Participant), including (without limitation) concealing, tampering with or destroying any documentation or other information that may be relevant to that investigation and/or that may be evidence of or may lead to the discovery of evidence of Corrupt Conduct under the Anti-Corruption Code.

After admitting to the charges,  Shohaly accepted a five-year sentence which makes her bars her from participating in any form of professional cricket effective immediately from February 10, 2025. In recent times, several cases of match-fixing allegations in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) are being independently reviewed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. And to further compound the problem, unpaid salaries of the overseas players have also dominated the headlines thus tarnishing the global reputation of Bangladesh cricket as a whole.