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The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday announced sanctions against Mehar Chhayakar, its Anti-Corruption Tribunal found him guilty of seven breaches of the ICC and Cricket Canada Anti-Corruption Codes.
Mr Chhayakar, was found to have breached the following provisions of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code and Cricket Canada Anti-Corruption Code in relation to matches in the Zimbabwe v UAE series in April 2019 and matches in the GT20 in Canada in 2019.
Here are some of the details relating to the Zimbabwe-UAE series:
The charges
The ICC says it it charged Chhayakar by notices dated 16 October 2019 and 15 April 2021, Mr Mehar Chhayakar (“M”) with breaching Code Articles 2.1.1 and 2.1.41 by his attempts to contrive to fix aspects of matches in the Zimbabwe v UAE series in April 2019 and matches in the GT20 2019 in Canada, and to entice, induce and/or solicit other Participants to become involved in his attempts to fix. In addition, he was charged with breaching Code Articles 2.4.6 and 2.4.7 by his repeated failures to cooperate with the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit’s (“ACU”) investigation and his consequent obstruction of the ACU’s investigation.
Charge No.1 Article 2.1.1 in that he “attempted to contrive to fix aspects of the Zimbabwe v
UAE series in April 2019, or were party to an effort to try and fix aspects of the Zimbabwe series, when you approached Qadeer Khan and offered him 60-70,000 AED to concede 70 runs in a match in the series”
Charge No.2 Article 2.1.4 in that he “sought to entice, induce and/or solicit Qadeer Khan to get involved in your effort to fix aspects of International Matches in the Zimbabwe v UAE series in April 2019”
Zimbabwe law enforcement involvement
In April 2019, the ACU became aware of allegations relating to potential fixing in the Zimbabwe v UAE series and thus commenced an investigation into such allegations. This investigation started as a result of the law enforcement agencies in Zimbabwe in that month, and in advance of the series, arresting four individuals (including Mr Chhayakar) understood to be involved in attempts to corrupt the matches (“the April 2019 detention”).
The TV deal
Another of the arrested quartet was [Mr X], a known corrupter and someone that the ACU had previously linked to Mr Chhayakar. It is believed that [MrX] and his group paid US $30,000 to have the Zimbabwe v UAE series televised under a fictitious sponsorship deal with a company called Surya Pump .
We must note that in spite of the image above showing the match having been streameed, the ICC did not indicate fault with the streaming provider or Zimbabwe Cricket.
Enquiries with [a betting operator] indicated that Mr Chhayakar had called them and enquired about placing a bet on the Zimbabwe v UAE series.
The conspiracy part 1 – Mr Qadeer
On 9 October 2019 following an initial examination of Mr Qadeer’s phone, which identified contacts of interest in the investigation, Mr Qadeer was interviewed again.
During this interview, he stated the following:
In advance of the UAE’s tour of Zimbabwe in April 2019, Mr Chhayakar had offered him 60-70,000 AED (approx. US$16-19,000) to concede 70 runs in a match (the first or second match) through “bad bowling”. In particular, about 7 to 10 days before he left for the Zimbabwe tour, Mr Chhayakar approached him at his home.
Reads part of the transcript:
ANDREW EPHGRAVE: When was that?
QADEER AHMED: I don’t remember the dates.
ANDREW EPHGRAVE: Okay.
STEPHANIE MCCORMICK: So, you said it was before the Zim series?
QADEER AHMED: Before the Zim series.
STEPHANIE MCCORMICK: Okay, so when was that Zim series, in April?
ANDREW EPHGRAVE: Yeah, it was in April.
STEPHANIE MCCORMICK: Sorry. So are we talking six months before that, are we talking a week before you flew, two weeks,
QADEER AHMED: Before 10 days
STEPHANIE MCCORMICK: 15 days before you flew…
QADEER AHMED: May be 15 days
Qadeer did not agree to the proposed fix.
He accepted that he continued communicating with Mr Chhayakar and [Mr X] after the offer was made, because he thought they might get him a place to play in cricket tournaments.
When he was shown a series of WhatsApp messages that were recovered from his phone between him and Mr Chhayakar in August 2019, he admitted that the conversations had taken place and that in those conversations Mr Chhayakar was seeking inside information from him, namely if he was playing in a certain match and if so which overs he would be bowling.
In some of these messages, Mr Qadeer and Mr Chhayakar refer to “work” being done in matches – which we are told is how corrupters commonly refer to fixes.
Qadeer was charged by the ICC with various breaches of the Code, including that he failed to report approaches he received from Mr Chhayakar to engage in corrupt conduct. He accepted the charges and was banned for five years.
The conspiracy part 2 – Shabbir
Gulam Shabbir is a 35-year old former UAE international cricketer who was part of the UAE squad for the 2019 ICC World T20 Qualifiers suddenly resigned from the team and all cricket during the tournament.
This excited the Anti-Corruption Unit or ACU’s suspicions, since resignation occurred at about the same time as a number of UAE players were being summoned for interview by the ACU in relation to their investigation into members of the UAE team.
He was subsequently interviewed by an ACU member from Pakistan.
Mr Shabbir explained that he got to know Mr Chhayakar a bit better during the UAE’s tour of Zimbabwe in April 2019 as Mr Chhayakar was in Zimbabwe. In particular, he said that when the team was in Zimbabwe, Mr Qadeer had gone to see some people, who Mr Qadeer later told him were Mr
Chhayakar and his associate [Mr X].
Mr Shabbir said that during the Zimbabwe tour, Mr Chhayakar and [Mr X] were offering any player who wanted to make some money to corrupt a match during the tour31. He explained that the offer came to him via Mr Qadeer, with Mr Qadeer telling him that he would have to give away 12 runs an over, or be bowled out for less than 14 runs in the second match of the series.
A excerpt from ths Shabbir’s first interview:
[GS] I came to know that Qadeer had gone to meet them, because I didn’t know that they were there. … Yes, that’s what I’m telling you. I didn’t know at that time that he was there. Qadeer told me that he had met them. There was Gary, and someone called [Mr X], so these were their names. … [CA] they were trying to contact me on the phone … In Zimbabwe, Qadeer told me that he had met Gary and [Mr X]. That they have come to Zimbabwe for the matches. I think some Surya pumps, I think they were the sponsors and they were asking for players and saying that whoever wants money can take it from them. … [CA] … that by corrupting the match … [HR] And by Zimbabwe, we’re talking about April 2019, the ODIs? [GS] Yeah, four matches. Yeah. …”
Mr Shabbir said that neither he nor Mr Qadeer accepted the offer, eventually saying that Mr Qadeer had been offered AED 70,000 to carry out the fix but, as he himself had not agreed to be involved ‘he was not offered any specific amount of money.
Mr Shabbir was charged by the ICC with breaches of the Code, including that he failed to report approaches he had received from Mr Chhayakar to engage in corrupt conduct.
On 21 August 2021, Mr Shabbir admitted the charges and entered into an Agreed Sanction with the ICC of a four (4) year period of ineligibility in respect of the breaches.
Chhayakar’s defence
Mr Chhayakar’s defence set out verbatim was as follows:
“Charge No.1
– As stated in the Notice of Charge sent on 15th April 2021. There was no approach made to Qadeer Khan with any such financial amount mentioned as above. Just to clarify, the only financial dealing between him and myself on the said date was for the purchase of Adidas Blue/Red Cricket Shoes which he had given and order.
As I was not the resident of UAE from October 2015 until 2020 I had been visiting UAE on visit visas only, my passport is evidence to the same as well as furnished my visit visa copies if required.
If I had such a big amount to offer him I would definitely had fixed my legal status in the
country and would have earned decent living
Charge No.2 – UAE/Zimbabwe Series
The above charge is a mere baseless accusation I should not be held responsible of any such charge of corruption. Being a cricketer I do know the pro’s and con’s as per the ICC regulations. Henceforth i had never asked Qadeer Khan to corrupt any of the said matches neither did I pursued him to do so.
The ICC’s findings
The Tribunal accordingly accepts that, based on the evidence… the ICC has proved to the standard of comfortable satisfaction that Mr Chhayakar breached Code Article 2.1.1 on the following:
- Mr Chhayakar attempted to contrive to fix aspects of the Zimbabwe v UAE series in April 2019, or was party to an effort to try and fix aspects of the Zimbabwe series, (when in April 2019 he approached Qadeer Khan and offered him AED 60-70,000 to concede 70 runs in a match in the series and, via Mr Qadeer, approached Mr Shabbir).
The Tribunal also accepts that, based on the evidence summarised… the ICC has proved to the standard of comfortable satisfaction that Mr Chhayakar breached Code Article 2.1.4 on the following separate occasions:
- Mr Chhayakar sought to entice, induce and/or solicit Qadeer Khan to fix or be a party to his effort to fix aspects of International Matches in the Zimbabwe v UAE series in April 2019;
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To read the full details and ICC decision click here
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