UAE intl Qadeer Khan given 5-year ICC ban for corruption

LONDON: United Arab Emirates international Qadeer Ahmed Khan has been banned from cricket for five years for corruption.

Qadeer, capped 21 times by the UAE in one-day and Twenty20 cricket, admitted six counts of breaching the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption code relating to charges raised in 2019.

The offences relate to two separate series, against Zimbabwe and Holland, and include failing to report approaches inviting corrupt conduct, disclosing insider information that may be used for betting and failing to co-operate with investigation.

The five-year ban has been backdated to October 19, the date of Qadeer’s provisional suspension.

Alex Marshall, general manager of the ICC’s integrity unit, said: “Qadeer Khan is an experienced international cricketer who has received anti-corruption training. He should have avoided the people he knew were corrupt and reported any suspicions immediately.

“He has accepted he did wrong and requested an agreed sanction in place of a tribunal. His five-year period of ineligibility is a reflection of the seriousness of his breaches and the number of charges. He has accepted responsibility for his actions and expressed regret for those he has let down.”

A second domestic UAE player, Mehardeep Chhayakar, has been charged with six counts of breaching the code relating to the Zimbabwe series and the Global T20 league held in Canada.