Long-serving Sharjah Cricket Council (SCC) coach Irfan Ansari has been charged with three counts of breaching the ICC’s anti-corruption code.
Ansari has been suspended from all positions he currently holds in UAE cricket. Sources indicate that Ansari is allegedly the person who made an illegal approach to Sarfraz Ahmed (the Pakistan captain) at the end of the third ODI against Sri Lanka in 2017. It is believed that Ansari had refused to cooperate with the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit after an initial investigation was launched.
According to a statement released by the ICC, ‘Mr Ansari is party to the code through his position as a person who is affiliated to a team that participates in International Matches and the Coach of the One Stop Tourism and Multiplex international teams who participate in domestic matches in the UAE.’
Ansari has been provisionally suspended with immediate effect and has been charged with the following three offences under the Code:
Article 2.3.3 – Directly soliciting, inducing, enticing or encouraging a participant to breach Code Article 2.3.2.
Article 2.4.6 – Failure or refusal to cooperate with the ACU’s investigation by failing to provide accurately and completely the information and/or documentation requested by the ACU in October 2017.
Article 2.4.6 – Failure or refusal to cooperate with the ACU’s investigation by failing to provide accurately and completely the information and/or documentation requested by the ACU in February 2018.
Ansari has 14 days from 19 May 2018 to respond to the charges.
The ICC Anti-Corruption Code can be found here.
