The International Cricket Council aka ICC has been dealing with corruption for quite some time now. However, this time the cricket council encountered the involvement of cryptocurrency.
The crypto industry has tried long and hard to fend off its association with the dark web. But once again, crypto was seen getting embroiled in a recent case of cricket corruption. The Anti-Corruption Unit of the ICC revealed that the Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak was banned for eight years following his revelation of cricket corruption with crypto.
ICC Bans Heath Streak For Eight Years
Recently, the Zimbabwe captain had reportedly admitted to having unveiled information pertaining to an Indian bookie who was under the ICC’s radar. Streak shed light on the occurrences that took place during his time in Zimbabwe, Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Premier League, India during the Indian Premier League [IPL] as well as the Afghanistan Premier League.
While cricket corruption is no big news, the use of Bitcoin in it posed to have caused a hurdle to the ones investigating it. Streak had garnered about two Bitcoins back in 2018 while it was valued at $35,000. However, the price of Bitcoin has shot up immensely since the time. At the time of writing, the price of one BTC was $61K.
Elaborating on the complications of investigating such a case, the ICC ACU General Manager Alex Marshall stated,
“It is a new phenomenon for us, but we have staff capable of investigating it. Corrupters try to use all modes including cash and ‘hawala’, which are not easy to trace either. Bitcoins pose a similar challenge.”
While tracing the whereabouts of Bitcoin is undoubtedly a hard nut to crack, Marshall affirmed that the ICC had the right kind of people to look into it. The agency reportedly uses the right kind of expertise to stay ahead of the corrupters.
Additionally, IPL has garnered a wide range of audiences across the globe. The league rose to impeccable fame. However, rumors regarding corruption were seen making the rounds. While Streak gave the officials information regarding an Indian bookie, the head of Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) of the BCCI, Shabbir Hussain Shekhada Khanwawala announced that it was the first time that he had come across payments in Bitcoin. He added,
“We always catch the people, not by the amount or how the money is paid (bitcoins in this case). Our clues are different. We keep a watch on them and their activities and telephonic calls.“