Muscat: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Oman player Yousuf Al Balushi all forms of cricket for seven years for his involvement in trying to fix matches.

The charges relate to attempting to influence team members to engage in corruption during the 2019 T20 World Cup Qualifier, played in the UAE. According to ICC, Al Balushi has admitted to the charges.

Al Balushi has not been an active player for Oman for a few years after being named among the reserves for the 2016 T20 World Cup.

Balushi had been suspended last month for the same offence, and has now been formally slapped with the sanction after he “chose to admit the charges and agreed the sanction with the ICC in lieu of an Anti-Corruption Tribunal hearing,” an ICC release said.

“This is a very serious offence where a player attempted but failed to get a team mate to engage in corrupt activity in high profile games and this is reflected in the severity of the sentence,” ICC General Manager, Integrity, Alex Marshall said.

“Without Balushi’s admission of guilt and full cooperation throughout our investigation, the ban could have been significantly longer.

“The player has also indicated that he is willing to contribute to future integrity education programmes on our behalf to help younger players learn from his mistakes,” he added.