Ex-Zimbabwe cricket director banned over West Indies fix attempt

DUBAI (AFP) – Former Zimbabwe Cricket director Enock Ikope has been banned from the game for 10 years over corruption linked to the 2017 West Indies tour fix attempt. Ikope was found guilty of breaching three counts of the International Cricket Council´s Anti-Corruption Code. His suspension was announced by the ICC on Wednesday following the 20 year ban handed out to Rajan Nayer, a former senior Zimbabwe cricket official in March 2018. Nayer, the treasurer and marketing director of the Harare Metropolitan Cricket Association, admitted to offering Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer US$30,000 to fix the result of the Test series with the West Indies, which the visitors won. Cremer informed then coach Heath Streak of the approach and the matter was referred to the ICC. The ICC in a statement said Ikope had failed and obstructed to cooperate with its investigation, including the "deletion of data from his mobile phone before handing it over to the ICC´s anti-corruption tribunal. ICC general manager Alex Marshall said: "Non-cooperation and obstruction of our investigations by participants to the Code are simply not acceptable and I hope this and other recent sanctions send out a clear message to anyone involved in the sport."