The International Cricket Council's (ICC) anti-corruption unit (ACU) dealt with former Kenya cricketer who approached Uganda player in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. As per PTI, the incident took place in Guyana. The former Kenya pacer who remains unnamed tried to contact a Ugandan player several times with different numbers.
The Ugandan player followed the protocol and reported the advances of the former Kenya player to ACU. The officials were quick to take action and also alerted players from associate nations who may be vulnerable.
"It is not a surprise that this person targeted a player from the Ugandan national team. Associate nations, as compared to the big teams, are soft targets for corruption but in this case the player who was approached did the needful by informing the ICC at the earliest," a source told PTI.
If a player fails to report a corrupt approach, it counts as an offence under the ICC's anti-corruption code.
Uganda’s maiden T20 World Cup
Uganda in their maiden T20 World Cup campaign were placed in Group C which had Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, New Zealand and co-hosts West Indies. Uganada played their last group stage match of the tournament against the Kane Williamson-led side in Trinidad. The rest of their matches were played in Guyana. Their maiden win in the tournament came against PNG who they beat by three wickets in a low-scoring contest.
"Players are approached all the time, more so from smaller nations. In bigger events like T20 World Cup, there is more scrutiny and if an approach is conveyed to the ICC ACU, then due protocol is followed and a proper investigation is conducted," said another source.
ICC empowers member boards
Earlier this month, ICC made changes to its anti-corruption code to empower the apex board and the member boards "to proactively and thoroughly investigate incidents of corruption in the ongoing effort to protect the integrity of the game."
While the former Kenyan player remains unnamed so far, he is likely to face sanctions from the ICC. He may face the maximum punishment which is a life ban from all involvement in the game.
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