The International Cricket Council has imposed a three-and-a-half-year ban on former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor, who admitted in a statement that he was blackmailed after using cocaine during a meeting with an Indian businessman.
A few days after he made a statement confessing he neglected to report a corrupt approach by an Indian businessman and was blackmailed after consuming cocaine during that encounter, Brendan Taylor has been banned for three and a half years by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Brendan Taylor has been banned from all forms of cricket for three and a half years after admitting to four counts of violating the ICC Anti-Corruption Code and one count of violating the ICC Anti-Doping Code, the ICC said in a statement on Friday.
Between 2004 and 2021, Taylor played in 284 international matches for Zimbabwe, batting 9,938 times with 17 hundred.
In September last year, he tested positive for the stimulant Benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, in a drug test, and accepted the sanctions he was handed, according to the International Cycling Union (ICC).
ICC statement: Taylor’s first anti-corruption breach was for failing to disclose “(without unnecessary delay) the receipt of any benefit that (a) the participant knew or should have known was given to them to procure a breach of the Code or (b) that was made or given in circumstances that could bring the participant or the sport of cricket into disrepute,” continued the statement.
“Taylor was also guilty of not revealing ‘(without undue delay), a receipt of gifts/hospitality with a value of US$750 or more regardless of the circumstances in which they were supplied,'” it continued.
This included information on a series against either Sri Lanka or Bangladesh that was scheduled at the time, as well as the approach received to participate in corrupt conduct in violation of the Code.
By obstructing or delaying an Anti-Corruption Unit investigation, Taylor breached the Code by concealing or destroying any documentation or other information relevant to that investigation and/or that may be evidence of corrupt conduct under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code,” reads the fourth and final charge in the indictment.
An Indian businessman invited Taylor to India to discuss “sponsorships,” as well as the possibility of launching a T20 tournament in Zimbabwe, in addition to an offer of $15,000 in October 2019. He chose not to identify the businessman who was the subject of the allegation.
Then, as the night progressed, they gave me their own drug of choice: coke, which I foolishly accepted.” In the years since “I’ve replayed it a million times and still feel sick to my stomach,” Taylor wrote.
Following my refusal to spot fix at international matches for them, the same men broke into my hotel room and threatened to leak a video they had shot of me doping cocaine the night before.
“I was in a pickle. I was afraid for my safety in my hotel room because there were six of them. It had worked on me. “I’d voluntarily entered a scenario that has forever altered my life.”
