Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina acknowledged that the country’s cricket team player Shakib Al Hasan “made a mistake” by not reporting the corrupt approaches made to him, which in turn prompted the ICC to ban the No 1 ODI all-rounder for two years from all formats of the game.
Notably, the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday banned Shakib for two years, with one year of that suspended, after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
Under the provisions of the code, Shakib chose to admit the charges and agreed the sanction with the ICC in lieu of an Anti-Corruption Tribunal hearing. Subject to him satisfying the conditions in respect of the suspended part of the sanction, the all-rounder will be free to resume international cricket on 29 October, 2020.
“It’s clear that Shakib has made a mistake and he’s realised that,” Hasina was quoted as saying by bdnews24.com. “There’s nothing much the government can do about the ICC’s decision but Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will stand by him,” she added.
Meanwhile, noting ICC’s decision to ban Shakib, Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan said: “We hope he will come back as a better and wiser cricketer and serve Bangladesh for many more years when his sanction will be over. During the suspension, the BCB will continue to support his efforts at returning to cricket.
“The BCB respects the ICC’s decision and shares similar sentiments against corruption in cricket.”