Bangladesh's Shohely Akhter First Female Cricketer Banned for Corruption

Shohely Akhter, a Bangladeshi cricketer, has been banned by the ICC for five years due to corruption charges. She admitted to attempting match-fixing during the 2023 T20 World Cup. Shohely contacted a teammate to manipulate matches in exchange for money from her cousin's betting activities.

In an unprecedented move, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Bangladesh’s Shohely Akhter, marking a historic first in women’s cricket. The decision comes after the 36-year-old was implicated in corruption activities while attempting to fix matches during the 2023 T20 World Cup.

Shohely, who has represented Bangladesh in two ODIs and 13 T20 Internationals with her off-spin bowling, acknowledged her breaches of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. Specifically, her violations involved soliciting a teammate to fix matches, using Facebook Messenger as a communication medium during the World Cup in South Africa.

The ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit’s investigation discovered Shohely’s conversation with a fellow cricketer on February 14, 2023. She had offered incentives, backed by her cousin's betting profits, to persuade her teammate to commit match-fixing, an offer that was firmly rejected and promptly reported to the authorities, leading to Shohely’s five-year ban.