Bangladesh's Ashraful gets 8-year fixing ban

Bangladesh cricket authorities banned former captain Mohammad Ashraful for eight years on Wednesday after he was found guilty of match-fixing during a domestic Twenty20 tournament.
"He was found guilty of all four charges and is banned from cricket for eight years," said Khademul Islam Chowdhury, the head of a special panel set up by the Bangladesh board to investigate match-fixing allegations.
"In addition, he will have to pay a fine of one million taka ($12,820)," Chowdhury, a former high court judge, told reporters.
The tribunal also announced that former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent would be banned for three years and Sri Lanka's Kaushal Lokuarachchi for 18 months after failing to inform authorities they had been approached to fix matches in last year's Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
Shihab Jishan Chowdhury, an owner of the reigning BPL champions Dhaka Gladiators, which employed Ashraful, was banned for 10 years and fined two million taka for being party to an effort to fix a match.
Shakil Kasem, one of the three-member tribunal which handed down the sentences, said the bans would be effective anywhere in the world.
"The charges against the four were brought in accordance with the ICC's (International Cricket Council) anti-corruption code," Kasem told AFP.
"As a result, during the ban period, they'll be barred from playing and all sorts of cricketing activities anywhere in the world."
The ban on Ashraful, who became the country's youngest Test centurion in 2001 at the age of 17, would be backdated to May last year when he admitted helping fix matches in the second edition of the BPL.  
Vincent, who is at the centre of other match-fixing allegations in India and England, played for the Khulna Royals in the BPL. He has also represented the Black Caps in 23 Tests and 109 one-day internationals.
Lokuarachchi, 31, played four Tests and 21 one-dayers for Sri Lanka.
Source: AFP