Found guilty as a key figure in the corruption case involving cricketers from the United Arabic Emirates back in 2019, an individual going by the name Mehar Chhayakar has been banned from all cricket for 14 years by ICC.
An ICC tribunal found Chhayakar guilty on seven charges of breaches within its regulations and also Cricket Canada’s anti-corruption code. The individual committed these offences during a series between Zimbabwe and UAE back in April 2019 and the Global T20 Canada tournament that followed in the same year.
“Mr Chhayakar’s offences are linked to the previous cases of former UAE players Qadeer Khan and Gulam Shabbir. Both Qadeer and Shabbir accepted sanctions for admitted breaches of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code relating to approaches they received from Mr Chhayakar,”
the ICC said in a media release.
As revealed by the ICC, Chhayakar had breached the following set of its provisions and Cricket Canada’s anti-corruption codes through his corrupt activities:
- Article 2.1.1 – “Fixing or contriving in any way or otherwise influencing improperly” on two occasions the result, progress or conduct of an international match.
- Article 2.1.4 – On two separate occasions, “directly or indirectly soliciting” any participant to breach any of the foregoing provisions of Article 2.1 of the ICC laws.
- Article 2.4.6 – failing to comply, on two separate occasions, without any “compelling justification”, with any investigation carried out by the ICC anti-corruption unit (ACU).
- Article 2.4.7 – Obstruction or delaying any investigation carried out by the ACU in relation with the case involving breaches of ACU code and indulging in corrupt activities.
Alex Marshal, ICC’s general manager for the integrity unit, said the governing body had first encountered Chhayakar through his involvement in organising a corrupt cricket event in Ajman in 2018.
Chhayakar was the mastermind behind enticing UAE cricketers Qadeer and Gulam into corrupt activities and influencing matches for money during the 2019 season. The two players admitted to the charges put on them by the ICC and accepted their respective punishments.
Marshal said the ICC hopes it has sent a strong message across by putting a 14-year ban on Chhayakar for intending to corrupt the game of cricket in any form or shape.
