T20 World Cup: ICC warns associate nations against potential corrupt approach from Kenya international

ICC's anti-corruption unit swiftly handles corrupt approach towards Ugandan player during T20 World Cup, emphasizing integrity in cricket.

The spectre of corruption in cricket continues to challenge the game's administrators, however, one potential approach from a former Kenya international to a player from Uganda in the ongoing T20 World Cup was dealt swiftly by the sleuths of ICC's anti-corruption unit.

PTI has learned that the incident took place during the league stage matches in Guyana where a former Kenya pacer tried to contact a Ugandan team member multiple times from different numbers. The Ugandan player reported the approach to the ACU officials on site, in accordance with the ICC’s strict anti-corruption protocol.

The development prompted the officials to raise a red flag against the former Kenya player by informing all the associate teams about him.

"It is not a surprise that this person targeted a player from the Ugandan national team. Associate nations, as compared to the big teams, are soft targets for corruption, but in this case, the player who was approached did the needful by informing the ICC at the earliest," a source told PTI.

Uganda ended their T20 World Cup campaign with a memorable win over Papua New Guinea and losses to Afghanistan, New Zealand and the West Indies in Trinidad on Friday. Uganda, first-timers in the competition alongside Canada and co-hosts USA, played three of their four league games in Guyana.

"Players are approached all the time, more so from smaller nations. In bigger events like T20 World Cup, there is more scrutiny and if an approach is conveyed to the ICC ACU, then due protocol is followed and a proper investigation is conducted," said another source.

The failure to report a corrupt approach is an offence under the ICC's anti-corruption code. The other offences include match-fixing, betting on the game, misuse of inside information and failing to co-operate with an investigation.