“I accept the punishment that CSA has imposed on me”
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Cricket South Africa have banned former Proteas opening batsman Alviro Petersen for two years after he admitted to breaching their anti-corruption code 13 times.
The breaches all relate to the 2015/16 Ram Slam T20 Challenge match-fixing scandal, and include four counts of Petersen failing to report an approach.
Petersen was also charged with four counts of failing to cooperate with investigators as he did not give them accurate and complete information and four counts of not disclosing evidence of other players breaching the anti-corruption code.
Finally, there was one charge of concealing or destroying evidence that was relevant to the investigation.
The 36-year-old apologised for his actions and made it clear that he never had any intention of fixing matches.
“I would like to apologise to my family, friends, the public who are fans of the game of cricket, my team mates, Gauteng cricket, Lions cricket and especially to Cricket South Africa for my actions,” he said. “At the time that the meetings with Bodi and the fixers happened, I never had any intention of fixing matches or taking money.
“I now deeply regret having participated in these meetings and not to have immediately reported them to the authorities as I am obliged to do. I understand that I need to take personal responsibility for my actions and I accept the punishment that CSA has imposed on me.
“I hope that other players will learn from my experience and be better prepared if they find themselves in the situation that I was in, and that my punishment will serve as a deterrent. I also want to thank my family, friends and my legal team for their unwavering support and guidance during the last few months.”
Petersen is the sixth player to be indicted in the scandal after Gulam Bodi, Thami Tsolekile, Ethy Mbhalati, Pumi Matshikwe and Jean Symes, who were banned for between seven and 20 years.
Petersen had earlier rejected a plea bargain from Cricket South Africa, but issued a statement through his lawyer, Robin Twaddle, where he said that he had been “playing along” with those involved in the match-fixing scandal, but insisted that he done nothing wrong.
Even though it remains unclear what Petersen’s exact role in the scandal was, Cricket South Africa confirmed that the most serious breach he committed was not disclosing all the information he had to the investigators.
“He is obliged under the code to have disclosed various approaches that were made to him to engage in corrupt activities,” Cricket South Africa CEO Haroon Lorgat said in a statement. “While having provided certain information to the investigators he had also withheld and concealed certain material information, such as the meetings with Bodi and certain fixers.”
In his statement after being charged, Petersen revealed that he knew of at least one more player who was involved in the match-fixing scandal. With that in mind, the independent chairperson of Cricket South Africa’s ACU, Bernard Ngoepe, confirmed that the body will continue investigating the matter.
“We are still finalising certain aspects of the investigation and we will not stop until we are fully satisfied that we have exhausted every lead and scrutinised every aspect relating to this matter,” he said. “As we have stated previously, any form of corruption in the game will be dealt with severely. We will leave no stone unturned in this investigation.”