Bangladesh’s Shohely Akhter became the first woman cricketer to be banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on corruption charges. The off-spinner was found guilty of attempting to fix a match during the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup, offering a bribe and not cooperating with the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code (ACU) during the investigation.

Shohely Akhter, who played just two ODIs and 13 T20Is for Bangladesh, admitted to the charge of breaching Articles 2.1.1, 2.1.3, 2.1.4, 2.4.4 and 2.4.7 of the Code. She also accepted the five-year ban period, effective from February 10, 2025.

The last time Shohely Akhter played for Bangladesh was in 2022. In total, she has taken 11 wickets for Bangladesh in international cricket. Based on the investigation report, Shohely Akhter made corrupt approach to a Bangladesh cricketer during the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa. The approach centered around Bangladesh’s match against Australia.

The 36-year-old had offered 2 million Bangladeshi Taka (USD 16,400 approx.) to one of the players to get out hit wicket against a pacer.

How did Shohely Akhter plan everything?

Based on the ICC document, Shohely Akhter on February 12, 2023, just before the Bangladesh vs Australia game, contacted one of the players in the Bangladesh via Facebook messenger, who also happens to be her friend. Shohely Akhter send her voice notes trying to manipulate the unnamed cricketer to carry on the fixes.

The document further stated that Shohely Akhter told the cricketer that her cousin, who bets on phone, has asked her to speak with the player and ask whether a hit wicket against a pacer could be carried out during the match against Australia.

Shohely Akhter also said that the cricketer would be paid 2 million Bangladesh takas if the latter fixes the match. She further stated that the conversation would be kept as secret and would delete the messages. Shohely Akhter indeed deleted the messages.

The cricketer approached the ACU immediately and reported the matter. She also provided all the voice notes from Shohely Akhter, who had deleted the messages on her phone.

Shohely Akhter did try to play innocent by showing the ACU screenshots and claimed that the conversation between her and the cricketer was a part of a ‘challenge’. However, upon investigation, it was found out that those screenshots were fabricated.