Cricket Scotland’s chief executive has backed life bans handed out to two Hong Kong cricketers found guilty of match-fixing.
Malcolm Cannon said he supported the ICC’s anti-corruption unit in its efforts to stamp out cheating after the verdict.
It confirmed the players carried out their actions during World Cup qualifying matches against Scotland and Canada at Queenstown in New Zealand in 2014.
Hong Kong’s Irfan Ahmed and Nadeem Ahmed have been banned from cricket for life for match-fixing and their team mate Haseeb Amjad has been banned for five years.
The trio were provisionally suspended by the world governing body after being charged for “fixing or contriving” aspects of Hong Kong’s World Cup qualifiers against Scotland and Canada in 2014.
Irfan was found guilty of nine offences under the ICC’s anti-corruption code and his brother Nadeem and Amjad were found guilty of three offences each.
Hong Kong actually won the match, in which the Scots were captained by Aberdeen’s Kyle Coetzer, by 17 runs.
Mr Cannon said yesterday: “Cricket Scotland strongly supports the work of the International Cricket Council’s anti corruption unit in protecting the game.”
The latter organisation’s general manager, Alex Marshall, said the Ahmed brothers’ actions were “premeditated and sophisticated”, as he unveiled a lengthy investigation into how they had carried out their deceit.
But he confirmed that the ICC was concerned about the potential for cheating and match-fixing at lower levels of the international sport.
He said: “This has been a long and complex investigation which has uncovered systematic attempts to influence moments in matches by experienced international cricketers over a period of time.
“With the fixers finding it harder than ever before to penetrate the highest levels of the game across the world, we are increasingly seeing them turn their attention to other avenues in the sport.
“The severity of the offences is reflected in the sanctions and I hope will deter other players from taking this path and demonstrate to cricket fans around the world our commitment to a corruption free sport.”
