Ashraful banned for 8 years

On June 18, 2005 Mohammad Ashraful brought tears of joy to the eyes of Bangladeshis all around the world with a swashbuckling century that led the Tigers to an unbelievable win over Australia in Cardiff. Exactly nine years later he has marked another occasion, albeit one that may engender tears of sorrow.  
Bangladesh's first cricketing superstar has been banned from all cricketing activities for eight years on grounds of fixing during the Bangladesh Premier League in 2013. The 29-year-old Ashraful, who was found guilty on four charges, was also asked to pay a fine of Tk 10 lakh to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) by the three-member anti-corruption tribunal at court yesterday.
The tribunal also imposed sanctions on Dhaka Gladiators owner Shihab Chowdhury, who has been banned from participating in any cricket-related activity for 10 years and fined Tk 20 lakh after being found guilty of 'attempting to fix a match'. The tribunal also deemed Lou Vincent and Kaushal Lokuarachchi ineligible to participate in any cricketing activity for three years and 18 months respectively, for not reporting fixing approaches.  
The sanctions will come into effect from each of the individual's retrospective dates of provisional suspension.  
Ashraful was provisionally suspended on May 2013, which essentially means that he has already served one year of his suspension. The tribunal has also given the former Bangladeshi captain an opportunity to reduce his suspension by three years, provided that he participates in an 'authorised anti-corruption education or rehabilitation programme organised by either the ICC or the BCB'.
“He has to serve a minimum of five years. The three years will be suspended on condition that he participates in such a programme. He may be called upon to do so at any time from today (Wednesday) onwards,” said Justice Khademul Islam, the convener of the tribunal, yesterday.
Following the imposition of the sanctions, Ashraful -- who was present at the hearing -- remained calm as opposed to his emotional outburst during his confession last year.
“I believe that I can come back to the field in four years' time and play cricket again. This is not the end,” said a determined Ashraful.
There are two ways that the individuals can appeal against the sanctions imposed. They are eligible to appeal to the chairman of the BCB's disciplinary panel. They can also appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.
When asked if the lack of evidence was the main reason as to why the tribunal acquitted six out of the 10 charged for fixing, Justice Islam agreed and said, “It depends on the satisfaction of the tribunal. The standard of proof should be beyond reasonable doubt. The ones which did not have them, we left it. That's why the six individuals were acquitted.”
During the investigation the tribunal came to know that the ICC's anti corruption unit could have prevented two fixed games from taking place, but did not in order to gather evidence.
With regards to this Justice Islam said, “The ICC and ACSU should have stopped the games from taking place since they had evidence.”
In June 2013, Ashraful was suspended from all forms of cricket after he publicly confessed that he was involved in spot-fixing in the BPL.
On August 13, nine individuals were charged of being involved in corrupt activities during the BPL and they were all provisionally suspended.
In February this year six of the nine were cleared of all charges as per a short verdict released by the tribunal. Vincent, who was not initially charged, pleaded guilty during the investigation and the verdict included the player's name as well.
The reasoning verdict which explained the reasons behind the short verdict was dispersed by the tribunal early this month. The tribunal has directed the BCB to make the verdict available to the public.