Bangladesh’s Shohely Akhter Banned for Five Years Over Corruption Charges
The ICC has handed Bangladesh off-spinner Shohely Akhter a five-year ban from all forms of cricket after finding her guilty of multiple corruption charges. Akhter, who has represented Bangladesh in two ODIs and 13 T20Is, is believed to be the first international women’s cricketer to face a ban for corruption.
The charges stem from her actions during the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa. Though she was not part of Bangladesh’s playing squad, Akhter was found guilty of attempting to fix a match, offering a bribe, failing to report an approach to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), and obstructing the investigation.
The Corruption Attempt
The ICC’s investigation focused on a conversation between Akhter and a Bangladesh cricketer on February 14, 2023—the day of Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup match against Australia. Using Facebook Messenger, Akhter offered 2 million Bangladeshi Taka (approximately USD 16,400) to the player in exchange for deliberately getting out hit wicket during the match.
The approached player immediately reported the incident to the ACU, providing voice messages from Akhter as evidence. However, Akhter had already deleted the files from her own devices.
During questioning, Akhter admitted to sending the messages but claimed she was merely trying to prove to a friend that Bangladesh players were not involved in fixing, rather than making a genuine corrupt offer. However, further investigation revealed inconsistencies in her claims.
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ACU Investigation Findings
In her first interview with the ACU, Akhter provided screenshots of a supposed conversation with a friend discussing the “challenge” before February 14. However, forensic analysis of the message metadata confirmed that these files were actually created after February 14, contradicting her statements.
While the ICC does not disclose details of corruption approaches that do not lead to formal investigations, this case is believed to be the first time a corruption attempt in a women’s event has resulted in formal charges and a ban.
