25 February 2020.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Oman’s Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi for seven years for corruption during the 2019 T20 World Cup Qualifier, played in the UAE last month. The charges relate to attempting to influence team members to engage in corruption. The Anti-corruption unit (ACU) of ICC had filed the charges after finding Yousuf guilty on four counts including match-fixing. ICC said in a media release that Yousuf accepted four charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
Yousuf has not been an active player for Oman for a few years after being named among the reserves for the 2016 T20 World Cup.
Yousuf has not been an active player for Oman for a few years after being named among the reserves for the 2016 T20 World Cup.
ICC investigations found that Balushi was approached in August 2019 by someone he knew from playing in an Arabian Carnival League match in Bahrain. The individual, referred to as Mr X by the ICC, asked Balushi’s help to fix matches in the 2019 T20 World Cup Qualifiers.
Subsequently, Mr X introduced Balushi to two other men (Mr Y and Mr Z) who asked him to get a particular Oman player on board. The fix would involve this player getting out for less than a pre-agreed number of runs. The player would have to use an orange or black coloured grip on his bat, and he would then have to act on a signal from Mr Y and Mr Z, who would be in the stands.
Balushi messaged the player and put the offer to him, but the approach was immediately rejected and reported to the ICC’s anti-corruption unit. This led to Balushi’s ban.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/ reported.
Subsequently, Mr X introduced Balushi to two other men (Mr Y and Mr Z) who asked him to get a particular Oman player on board. The fix would involve this player getting out for less than a pre-agreed number of runs. The player would have to use an orange or black coloured grip on his bat, and he would then have to act on a signal from Mr Y and Mr Z, who would be in the stands.
Balushi messaged the player and put the offer to him, but the approach was immediately rejected and reported to the ICC’s anti-corruption unit. This led to Balushi’s ban.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/ reported.
