ICC Bans Sharjah Cricket Official Irfan Ansari From All Cricket For Ten Years

Sharjah-based cricket coach Irfan Ansari has been banned from all cricket-related activity for ten years, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed on Wednesday (February 20).  Irfan Ansari was found guilty by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Tribunal of breaching three counts of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

Previously, Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed had reported Ansari had approached him during the series against Sri Lanka in the UAE in late 2017.

Ansari was charged with:

• Directly soliciting, inducing, enticing or encouraging a participant to disclose inside information.
• Failure or refusal to cooperate with the ACU’s investigation by failing to provide accurately and completely the information and/or documentation requested (including a request by the ACU to take possession of and/or copy or download information from his mobile devices) – this happened twice, in October 2017 and in February 2018.
• Though not an active cricketer, Ansari was “bound by the code as a result of his affiliation to the Pakistan cricket team and also as a result of being a coach to two teams that participate in domestic matches in the UAE”, an ICC statement said.

ICC general manager ACU,  Alex Marshall praised Sarfraz for approaching the officials after the approach and the subsequent help in the investigation.

“I’d like to place on record my thanks to Sarfraz Ahmed, who showed true leadership and professionalism from the moment he reported this approach,” Marshall said. “He recognised it for what it was, rejected it and reported it. He then supported our investigation and subsequent tribunal.

“This is the first time we have prosecuted for failure to cooperate with an investigation since the new rules enabling us to demand the participants hand over their phone for examination and the sanction reflects the seriousness of the offence. It is an important tool to aid our investigations and continue in our efforts to rid the sport of these corrupters,” he added.

Irfan Ansari, a big name in Sharjah cricket, was plying his services to the Sharjah Cricket Council for the last three decades. He had been in charge of the Al Dhaid Cricket Village. He was also the head coach of the Sharjah Cricket Club before being sacked in 2017 as part of a revamp. Ansari was also actively involved in Sharjah’s Ramzan tournaments.