The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday banned Deepak Agarwal, one of the team owners of the Sindhi's franchise in the 2018 T10 league, for two years for breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
Six months of the ban has been suspended after Agarwal accepted one charge of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
"The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Deepak Agarwal from all cricket for two years, with six months of that suspended, after he accepted one charge of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code," ICC said in a statement.
Agarwal was charged as a participant under the Code due to the fact he was one of the team owners of the Sindhi's franchise in the 2018 T10 Cricket League.
The charge reads: "Article 2.4.7 - obstructing or delaying an investigation, including concealing, tampering with or destroying any documentation or other information that may be relevant to that investigation and / or that may be evidence of or may lead to the discovery of evidence of corrupt conduct under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code."
Agarwal admitted the charges and agreed to the sanction with the ICC in lieu of an Anti-Corruption Tribunal hearing. He will be free to resume his involvement in the game on 27 October 2021.
ICC General Manager - Integrity, Alex Marshall, said Agarwal assisted ACU in relation to "several investigations" involving other participants and this cooperation was reflected in his sanction.
"There were a number of examples of Agarwal obstructing and delaying our investigations and it was not just a one off occurrence. However, he made a prompt admission of his breach of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code and continues to provide substantial assistance to the ACU in relation to several investigations involving other participants. This cooperation is reflected in his sanction," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )
