Debasis Sen, Dubai: The much anticipated Afghanistan Premier League is corruption free, claimed Basheer Stanizkai, the Director of the tournament on Tuesday. There were concerns about the League which will be in its second season this year starting from October following the claims of Mohammed Shahzad that he was approached by a suspiscious man.
Afghanistan Cricket Board officials commended Shahzad for reporting the incident immediately to the team’s management, who in turn informed the ICC.
“He was suspicious. It wasn’t actually a corrupt approach, but he felt he should report it,” Said Basheer Stanikzai.
“Nothing will happen at the Afghanistan Premier League. If [the players] are suspicious, they are right to report anything. It wasn’t that serious, but we told him to report this.
The APL Director is confident that the tournament will be played in the right spirits and will not indulge in any corruption.
On Monday, Alex Marshall, the head of the ICC’s anti-corruption unit, had said five International captains have been approached to spot-fix over the past 12 months.
“There have been 32 investigations in the last 12 months, eight involve players as suspects,” Marshall said at the ICC’s offices in Dubai Sports City.
“Five of them involve administrators or non-playing personnel. Three of these individuals have been charged. Five internationals captains have also reported receiving approaches to spot-fix.”
Stanikzai said the APL organisers are doing everything they can to protect the tournament from corruption.
“It is not about Sharjah, it is wherever we play we take care of that,” Stanikzai said.
The Afghanistan Premier League will have five teams – one each from Paktia, Nangarhar, Kandahar, Balkh and Kabul.