UAE players Amir Hayat and Ashfaq Ahmed suspended for breaching ICC anti-corruption code

The two cricketers have been charged with five counts of breaching the code

13-Sep-2020

Amir Hayat and Ashfaq Ahmed have 14 days to respond to the charges  •  Getty Images

UAE players Amir Hayat, the 38-year-old medium pacer, and Ashfaq Ahmed, the 35-year-old batsman, have been charged with five counts of breaching the game's anti-corruption rules and provisionally suspended with immediate effect, an ICC statement on Sunday said. The alleged offences are related to the 2019 men's T20 World Cup qualifier, played in October.

The charges include attempting to fix or improperly influence the result of an international match and failing to disclose to the ICC anti-corruption unit details of corrupt approaches.

Hayat, who has turned out for UAE in nine ODIs and four T20Is, and Ahmed, capped 28 times by UAE in white-ball cricket, have been charged with the following breaches:

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) ensure for Betting or other corrupt purposes the occurrence of a particular incident in an International Match.

Article 2.4.2 - Failing to disclose to the ACU (without unnecessary delay) the receipt of any gift, payment, hospitality or other benefit, (a) that the Participant knew or should have known was given to him/her to procure (directly or indirectly) any breach of the Anti-Corruption Code, or (b) that was made or given in circumstances that could bring the Participant or the sport of cricket into disrepute.

Article 2.4.3 - Failing to disclose to the ACU (without unnecessary delay) all gifts (whether monetary or otherwise), hospitality and/or other non-contractual benefits offered to a Participant that have a value of US$750 or more, whether or not the circumstances set out in Article 2.4.2 are present, save that there shall be no obligation to disclose any (i) personal gifts, hospitality and/or other non-contractual benefits offered by or on behalf of any close friend or relative of the Participant, (ii) any food or beverage gifts or (iii) cricket hospitality gifts in connection with Matches the Participant is participating in.

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 2.4.5 - failing to disclose to the ACU full details of any facts or matters that came to his attention that may evidence Corrupt Conduct under the Code by another Participant.

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Ahmed had earlier been suspended by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), but "no formal charges had been laid so far" according to the statement at the time. As such, that penalty was imposed by the ECB, while the latest sanctions are courtesy the ICC.

Not long before Ahmed had been suspended, the ICC had provisionally suspended UAE captain Mohammad Naveed and senior batsman Shaiman Anwar, charging the two players with attempts to "fix" or "improperly influence" matches in the same qualifiers. Allrounder Qadeer Ahmed was also issued the same penalty for allegedly disclosing inside information to people who were betting on the game.

Hayat and Ahmed have 14 days from September 13 to respond to the charges.

Amir Hayat Ashfaq Ahmed United Arab Emirates