Marlon Samuels found guilty of four anti-corruption offences

DUBAI: Former West Indies batter Marlon Samuels has been found guilty of four offences under the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) Anti-Corruption Code following a hearing by an independent anti-corruption tribunal.

Samuels, who was charged by the ICC (in its capacity as the Designated Anti-Corruption Official under the ECB Code) in September 2021, has been found guilty after he exercised his right to a hearing before the tribunal.

The Tribunal will now consider the submissions of each party before deciding on the appropriate sanction to be imposed. The decision will follow in due course, the ICC said in a media release on Wednesday.

The charges relate to the 2019 edition of the Abu Dhabi T10, a tournament held under the aegis of the ECB. Samuels was drafted into the Karnataka Tuskers squad, but did not play the tournament.

The former cricketer has been charged with breaching these four articles of the ECB's anti-corruption code:

Article 2.4.2 (by a majority decision) – Failing to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official, the receipt of any gift, payment, hospitality or other benefit that was made or given in circumstances that could bring the Participant or the sport of cricket into disrepute.

Article 2.4.3 (unanimous decision) - Failing to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official receipt of hospitality with a value of US $750 or more.

Article 2.4.6 (unanimous decision) – Failing to cooperate with the Designated Anti-Corruption Official’s investigation.

Article 2.4.7 (unanimous decision) – Obstructing or delaying the Designated Anti-Corruption Official’s investigation by concealing information that may have been relevant to the investigation.

Samuels announced his retirement in November 2020, after a career in which he played 71 Tests, 207 ODIs and 67 T20Is, and scored over 11,000 international runs and 17 centuries.