Bangladesh’s Shohely Akhter became the first women’s cricketer to get banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on corruption charges. The off-spinner was found guilty of attempting to fix a match during the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup, offering a bribe and not co-operate with the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code (ACU) during the investigation.
Shohely Akhter, who played just two ODIs and 13 T20Is for Bangladesh, admitted the charge of breaching Articles 2.1.1, 2.1.3, 2.1.4, 2.4.4 and 2.4.7 of the Code. She also accepted the five-year ban period, effective from February 10, 2025.
The last time Shohely Akhter played for Bangladesh was in 2022. In total, she has taken 11 wickets for Bangladesh in international cricket. Based on the investigation report, Shohely Akhter made corrupt approach to a Bangladesh cricketer during the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa. The approach centered around Bangladesh’s match against Australia.
The 36-year-old had offered 2 million Bangladeshi Taka (USD 16,400 approx.) to one of the players to get out hit wicket against a pacer.
