Zimbabwean professional cricketer Brendan Taylor has revealed he is the subject of a match-fixing scandal.
Taylor took to Twitter this evening to break the news before the International Cricket Council could.
“I would like to make a statement regarding a finding made by the ICC, which is soon to be released,” Taylor wrote.
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Taylor – who has played 34 Test matches as well as 250 combined one-day internationals and Twenty20 internationals for Zimbabwe – claims he was approached by “an Indian businessman” in October 2019.
The “businessman” asked him to fly to India, where he would be paid $15,000 (USD) to “discuss sponsorships and the potential launch of a T20 competition in Zimbabwe”.
After arriving in India, Taylor says he was then offered cocaine while on a night out. Footage taken of him ingesting cocaine was then allegedly used to force him to take money and engage in match fixing.
“I was cornered. And with (six) of these individuals in my hotel room, I was scared for my own safety,” he wrote in a lengthy statement he posted on Twitter.
“I’d fallen for it. I’d willingly walked into a situation that has changed my life forever.”
Taylor says he was given $15,000, which was a “deposit”, and promised he would receive an additional $20,000 “once the job was complete”.
“I took the money so I could get on a plane and leave India,” he says.
“I felt I had no choice at the time because saying no was clearly not an option. All I knew was I had to get out of there.”
Taylor says when he returned home the alleged incidents in India had “severely impacted my mental and physical health”.
He says he never participated in any match-fixing activity, and eventually reported the situation to the ICC four months after the fact.
“The ICC are still taking the decision to impose a multi-year ban on my international cricketing career,” he says.
“I humbly accept this decision and only hope that my story will be used as a means of encouragement for cricketers to report any approaches early.”
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