CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Former Zimbabwe cricket captain Brendan Taylor was banned for 3 1/2 years Friday for breaching anti-corruption and anti-doping rules after he failed to report a match-fixing approach and tested positive for cocaine.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) said Taylor admitted to four charges under the anti-corruption code stemming from an incident in 2019 when he said he accepted $15,000 from businessmen in India, who asked him to fix international games.
Taylor claimed he took the money but never fixed any games.
Taylor also was found guilty of an anti-doping offense after testing positive for the stimulant Benzoylecognine, which is a cocaine metabolite.
He tested positive after a one-day international against Ireland in September, the ICC said. Taylor retired from international cricket after that series.
Taylor announced the ICC ban was coming in a personal statement on Monday, when he said he had been tricked into meeting with businessmen in India three years ago on the pretense that they wanted to discuss a “sponsorship opportunity” for him.
Taylor said he was offered cocaine at a dinner with the businessmen and they then used a secret video of him using the drug to blackmail him into becoming a match-fixer for them. Taylor said he took the cash so he could get out of the situation but never fixed.
However, he didn’t report the incident to the ICC’s anti-corruption unit for four months.
The 35-year-old Taylor also admitted he had a problem with cocaine and said he was going to check into a rehabilitation center this week.
The ICC banned him for 3 1/2 years for breaching the anti-corruption code and one month for the doping offense, which will run concurrently.