Qadeer Ahmed considering agreed sanction over corruption charges

Mohammed Naveed to take cricket ban to Court of Arbitration for Sport

UAE bowler Qadeer Ahmed trains with Pakistan's one-day team at ICC Cricket Academy, Dubai Sports City, on October 10th, 2017. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The corruption controversy lingering over UAE cricket has developed with confirmation Mohammed Naveed will take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, just as another player’s case might be moving closer to a conclusion.

It is understood Qadeer Ahmed, the fast bowler who is facing a series of corruption charges having been banned from the sport 18 months ago, is now considering the idea of an agreed sanction.

This would mean foregoing the right to an independent tribunal, and agreeing a punishment directly with the ICC.

Qadeer was charged with six counts of breaching cricket’s anti-corruption code in October 2019, in relation to series played in Zimbabwe and the Netherlands earlier that year.

The charges include “failing to disclose to the ACU full details of any approaches or invitations received to engage in conduct that would amount to corrupt conduct”, as well as failing to cooperate with the ICC investigation.

Unlike his former UAE teammates Naveed and Shaiman Anwar, who were banned at the same time as Qadeer in a separate investigation, he has not hired a lawyer to defend him.

Having been found guilty by an independent tribunal in January, Naveed and Shaiman were this month banned from all cricket for eight years.

After reading about Naveed and Shaiman’s sanctions, Qadeer contacted the ACU the following day with a view to reaching a resolution to his own case.

Given the number of offences, Qadeer could face a ban of around 15 years if he was found guilty at tribunal, although it would likely be less if he does not contest the charges.

In previous cases that have ended with an agreed sanction, participants have been given credit for “agreeing an outcome that avoids the need for a hearing,” saving “time and money for use elsewhere in the fight against corruption,” according to ICC reports.

No matter the length of his potential suspension, Qadeer, who played 21 international matches for UAE between 2015 and 2019, is reconciled to never playing organised cricket again.

Once he was initially suspended, the fast bowler returned to his native Pakistan, and opened a shop selling milk. He has since closed that business, and is now out of work.

In a separate case, Naveed has re-hired the same legal team who represented him in his tribunal to appeal to CAS in Switzerland.

His Dubai-based lawyers plan to appeal his guilty verdict, suggesting it was “based on certain conjectures and surmises,” as well as the eight-year ban, which they claim is an “unreasonable period” of ineligibility.

In the report determining his sanction, the independent tribunal stated “these are the most serious offences contemplated by [cricket’s anti-corruption code], because they go to the very core of the fundamental sporting imperatives that underpin it”.

It also stated: “In the position of captain, Mr Naveed’s offending damages the Emirates Cricket Board and has, at least, the potential to damage cricket more generally, not only in the UAE but globally.”