Cricket-ICC hands seven-year ban to Oman player for match-fixing

Oman's Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi has been banned from cricket for seven years due to match-fixing offenses, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Monday. Al Balushi was found guilty of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code on four counts relating to Twenty20 World Cup qualifiers held in the United Arab Emirates last year.

The 29-year-old admitted the charges and accepted the sanction imposed upon him, the world governing body said in a statement. "This is a very serious offense where a player attempted but failed to get a teammate to engage in corrupt activity in high profile games and this is reflected in the severity of the sentence," said ICC General Manager, Integrity, Alex Marshall.

"Without Mr. Balushi's admission of guilt and full cooperation throughout our investigation, the ban could have been significantly longer. "The player has also indicated that he is willing to contribute to future integrity education programs on our behalf to help younger players learn from his mistakes."

Oman has qualified for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in Australia later this year.

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