The former West Indies ODI captain Marlon Samuels has been banned from cricket for six years for breaching an anti-corruption code, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Thursday.
The all-rounder was found guilty of breaching four counts of the ICC’s anti-corruption code while playing in a limited-overs competition in the United Arab Emirates.
The charges against Samuels, who has not played for West Indies since 2018, relate to the T10 League in Abu Dhabi, the ICC stated when the charges were first announced in 2021. Samuels was found guilty by the ICC’s integrity unit in August.
Samuels was found guilty of failing to disclose “the receipt of any gift, payment, hospitality or other benefit” that could bring him into disrepute, as well as the receipt of hospitality worth $750 (£600) or more.
The ICC also said Samuels failed to cooperate with an anti-corruption official and concealed information that may have been relevant to the investigation.
“Samuels played international cricket for close to two decades, during which he participated in numerous anti-corruption sessions and knew exactly what his obligations were under the anti-corruption codes,” the ICC’s integrity unit manager, Alex Marshall, said in a statement announcing the sanction.
“Though he is retired now, Mr Samuels was a participant when the offences were committed. The ban of six years will act as a strong deterrent to any participant who intends to break the rules.”
In 2008, Samuels received a two-year ban from the ICC after being caught on tape passing on match-related information to an Indian bookmaker during West Indies’ ODI series in India the previous year.
He made a strong comeback in 2011 and continued playing Test cricket until 2016, and limited-overs internationals for a further two years. Samuels made his Test and ODI debuts for West Indies in 2000 at the age of 19.
He played 71 tests, 207 ODIs and 67 Twenty20 internationals and tallied more than 11,000 runs in international cricket. His highlight was a 56-ball 78 in the World T20 final against Sri Lanka in 2012 to help West Indies win the title.
Source The Guardian
BDST: 1857 HRS, NOV 23, 2023
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