The International Cricket Council (ICC) has charged eight people with various counts of corruption during the 2021 Emirates T10 League, including players, officials, and two Indian club owners, Parag Sanghvi and Krishan Kumar Chaudhary.
Six of those indicted, including three Indians, have been provisionally suspended and have 14 days to reply to the charges as of Tuesday.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has charged eight people with various counts of corruption during the 2021 Emirates T10 League, including players, officials, and two Indian club owners, Parag Sanghvi and Krishan Kumar Chaudhary.
The two Indians were co-owners of the Pune Devils in that season, and one of their players, former Bangladesh Test batter Nasir Hossain, has also been charged with violating the league's anti-corruption rule. (More Cricket News)
Sunny Dhillon, a little-known batting coach, is the third Indian involved in dubious actions.
"The charges relate to the 2021 Abu Dhabi T10 Cricket League and attempts to corrupt matches in that tournament – these attempts were disrupted. The ICC was appointed by the ECB as the Designated Anti-Corruption Official (DACO) for the ECB's Code for this tournament and as such are issuing these charges on the ECB's behalf," ICC said in a statement.
Sanghvi has been charged under Articles 2.2.1 and 2.4.6 of the Anti-Corruption Code.
Article 2.2.1 pertains to "Placing bets on the results, progress, conduct or other aspect of International and Domestic Matches."
As per Article 2.4.6, Sanghvi was guilty of "Failing or refusing, without compelling justification, to cooperate with any investigation carried out by the DACO about possible Corrupt Conduct under the Code."
Krishan Kumar was charged under Articles 2.4.5, 2.4.6 and 2.4.7 of the ACU code.
The 2.4.5 clause charges him for "Failing to disclose to the DACO (without unnecessary delay) full details of any incident, fact, or matter that comes to the attention of a Participant that may evidence Corrupt Conduct under the Anti-Corruption Code by another Participant."
Dhillon, who has no coaching experience, has been charged with attempting to manipulate matches under Articles 2.1.1, 2.4.4, and 2.4.6.
He was charged with "being a party to an attempt to fix, contrive, or improperly influence matches or aspects of matches in the Abu Dhabi T10 2021."
In addition, he has failed to "disclose to the DACO full details of any approaches or invitations received to engage in Corrupt Conduct under the Code."
Nasir, who played 19 Tests and 65 One-Day Internationals for Bangladesh, was found guilty of "failing to disclose to the DACO receipt of a gift worth over USD 750."
Batting coach Azhar Zaidi, UAE domestic players Rizwan Javed and Saliya Saman, and team manager Shadab Ahmed are among those who have been suspended.
Six of those indicted, including three Indians, have been provisionally suspended and have 14 days to reply to the charges as of Tuesday.
Later that evening, the organisers released a press release expressing their regret and vowing a more cautious approach to future events.
"T Ten Sports Management expresses disappointment over the charges levied against eight participants of the 2021 T10 tournament held in the UAE. We take all allegations of this nature seriously and have a zero-tolerance policy for any kind of corruption," it stated in a media release.
"We will continue to work closely with the ICC on our calendar of T10 tournaments and do everything within our control to ensure the integrity of cricket is upheld," it further stated.
(With PTI inputs)