Image Credit- AP
After Rizwan Javed, a club cricket player based in the
United Kingdom, was found guilty of five separate violations of the Emirates
Cricket Board’s (ECB) anti-corruption rule, the ICC banned him for seventeen
and a half years. This is the second-longest sentence the ICC has ever issued.
In September 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) initially indicted
eight players and officials, including Javed, for alleged corruption at the
2021 Abu Dhabi T10 competition. Only the 20-year penalty imposed on Zimbabwean
cricket official Rajan Nayar in 2018 is more severe.
According to information provided by the ICC in a
court filing, Javed played cricket for Cheadle Hulme Cricket Club in the
Cheshire Cricket League until August 24, 2019. However, in this instance, he
was being investigated for allegedly trying to bribe players in the T10 league,
specifically those on the Pune Devils team in the 2020–21 campaign.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecuted eight individuals, including
Bangladeshi international Nasir Hossain, after claiming to have
“disrupted” attempts to tamper with games last year. The ICC stated
that Javed did not answer to the charges or offer cooperation, in contrast to
Nasir who cooperated with the investigation and was given a two-year
punishment.
Javed was found guilty of:
Article 2.1.1 – Being party to an attempt to fix,
contrive or influence improperly matches or aspects of matches in the Abu Dhabi
T10 2021 (on three separate occasions).
Article 2.1.3 – Offering a Reward to another
Participant in exchange for that player engaging in Corrupt Conduct.
Article 2.1.4 – Directly or indirectly soliciting,
inducing, enticing, instructing, persuading, encouraging or intentionally
facilitating any Participant to breach Code Article 2.1 (on three separate
occasions).
Article 2.4.4 – Failing to disclose to the DACO full
details of any approaches or invitations received to engage in Corrupt Conduct
under the Code.
Article 2.4.6 – Failing or refusing, without
compelling justification, to cooperate with any investigation carried out by
the DACO in relation to possible Corrupt Conduct under the Code.