DHAKA: Cricket South Africa has banned four players for breaching its Anti-Corruption Code.

The players who have admitted contraventions of the Code and have been banned are Jean Symes, Pumelela Matshikwe, Ethy Mbhalati and Thami Tsolekile.

Jean Symes, an all-rounder, has been banned for 7 years for failing to disclose to the CSA Anti-Corruption Officer a payment which he knew or ought to have known was given to him to procure a breach of the Code, reports Cricket.co.za.

Pumelela Matshikwe and Ethy Mbhalati, bowlers, have been banned for 10 years for receiving a payment or incentive to fix or contrive to influence improperly a match or matches in the 2015 Ram Slam T20.

Thami Tsolekile, the former Proteas wicketkeeper, has received a ban of 12 years for contriving to fix a match or matches in the 2015 Ram Slam.

The CSA investigation was led by independent attorney and former ICC Head of legal, David Becker, and former police Colonel and current head of CSA’s Anti-Corruption Unit, Louis Cole.

Commenting on the bans, CSA Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: “It is our stated position that any form of corruption in the game will be dealt with severely. We will leave no stone unturned and we will do everything in our power to protect the integrity of the game”.

“Whilst there has been no evidence to suggest that an actual fix in any match was carried out, these players all participated in material discussions about match fixing.”

“In fact, they all went further and accepted, or agreed to accept in the future, sums of money which they knew or ought to have known was given to them to partake in activity that would amount to a breach of the Code, or bring the game into disrepute.”

“Our attitude towards any form of corruption is clear and hence why we have imposed such firm sanctions.”

Lorgat also thanked the ICC for assisting in these multifaceted investigations.

BDST: 1552 HRS, AUG 08, 2016
SR