The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that it will appeal along with Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) against the verdict of the anti-corruption tribunal formed by the BCB to look into the allegations of wrongdoing in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2013.
The BCB set up the tribunal after the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit had brought to its attention the instances of possible corruption in the league, according to an ESPN report.
Following its investigation, the BCB’s anti-corruption tribunal found one of the owners of Dhaka Gladiators, Shihab Jishan Chowdhury, guilty of "being party to an effort to fix" a match.
Mohammad Ashraful also confessed and pleaded guilty to wrongdoing before the tribunal and was subsequently banned for eight years.
New Zealand cricketer Lou Vincent was banned for three years and Sri Lankan cricketer Kaushal Lokuarachchi for 18 months from all cricketing activities.
Six other players were discharged as not guilty by the tribunal, and both the ICC and BCB had said they were "disappointed" by the ruling.
“The ICC and the BCB can confirm that we have received the full written decision from the Anti-Corruption Tribunal. As previously indicated, we’re extremely disappointed at the outcome of the proceedings, and seeing the reasons given by the tribunal for its decision has done nothing to address our concerns,” an ICC release stated.
“In the ICC’s view, clear and compelling evidence of corruption by a number of individuals have not been taken into account properly,” it said.
“Having now had the opportunity to review the detailed decision in its entirety and taken advice on it, we believe that we have very strong grounds on which we can base our appeal. We don’t believe that the sport would be sending the right message if it does not challenge what, in our opinion, are incorrect findings.”
According to the ICC release, the BCB’s anti-corruption code, which governs this matter, allows a two-stage appeal process: the first stage is an appeal to the chairman of the BCB’s disciplinary panel, and the second allows an appeal to be made to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.