In a dramatic turn of events, Bangladesh cricket has suffered a huge blow as the International Cricket Council (ICC) has handed over a five-year ban to Bangladesh player Shohaly Akhter from all forms of the game. The announcement comes after the accused player admitted to her wrongdoings and acknowledged breaching five provisions of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
The 36-year-old accepted being in breach of the following provisions of the Code;
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.
The player was found guilty of unlawful approaches during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, held in South Africa. Bangladesh finished last in Group A of the 2023 World Cup points table, with 4 straight losses and no points in the kitty.
It is understood that Shohely promised a fellow player 2 million Bangladeshi Takas (about USD 16,400) to intentionally get out hit-wicket during a T20 World Cup match, reaching out to them via Facebook Messenger. The player declined the offer, reported the approach immediately to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), and provided voice recordings that became vital evidence.
Shohely attempted to delete the messages from her own devices, but the ACU managed to retrieve them. During the investigation, she admitted to sending the messages but initially defended her actions, claiming it was only a “challenge” to demonstrate that the Bangladesh team was not involved in match-fixing. She even presented screenshots of an alleged chat with a friend to support her claims. However, forensic examination revealed that these files were created after February 14, undermining her justification.
Confronted with indisputable evidence, Shohely was forced to admit her guilt. She was charged by the ICC with attempting to fix a match, interfering with the investigation, and committing five other offenses under the Anti-Corruption Code.
Having made her T20 International debut in 2013, Akhter has played just 13 matches with a minimum 8 wickets. Her ODI career spans only two matches, with three wickets to her name. As Shohaly has admitted to the charges being levied on her, the suspension time will commence from 10 February 2025 and will remain enforced for over half a decade.
(Inputs sourced from ICC media release)
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