'Cocaine, Spot-Fixing, Blackmail': Brendan Taylor Says Indian Bookie Trapped Him. See Full Statement

Brendan Taylor revealed that an Indian businessman tricked him into substance abuse and later blackmailed him to engage in spot fixing in international games.

New Delhi: Zimbabwe cricket team's former skipper Brendan Taylor, on Monday, took to Twitter to make a shocking revelation. The ex-player disclosed details about a 'match-fixing' incident that dates back to the year 2019.

As per Taylor, an Indian businessman asked him to visit India for organizing a T20 event in Zimbabwe and discuss its sponsorship. The businessman had offered him USD$15,000 to come to India.

Taylor went on to explain that the businessman tricked him into substance abuse and later blackmailed him to engage in spot fixing in international games. However, the cricketer asserted that he did not do any match-fixing and after some time, reported the matter to International Cricket Council (ICC).

“I can’t deny I was a little wary. But the timing was such that we hadn’t been paid for 6 months by Zimbabwe cricket and it was questionable whether Zimbabwe would be able to continue playing in the international arena. So I made the journey. The discussions took place, as he had said, and on our last night in the hotel, the businessman and his colleagues took me for a celebratory dinner,” wrote Taylor in the statement.

Brendan revealed that the Indian businessman filmed him while taking drugs to blackmail him later.

“We had drinks and during the course of the evening they openly offered me cocaine, which they themselves engaged in, and I foolishly took the bait,” stated Taylor.

Brendan said that the incident put him in a terrible mental space.

“The following morning, the same men stormed into my hotel room and showed me a video taken of me the night before doing cocaine and told me that if I did not spot fix at international matches for them, the video would be released to the public,” he added.

Taylor also said that a multi-year ban is set to be imposed on him by the ICC.

“I would like to place on record that I have never been involved in any form of match-fixing. I may be many things but I am not a cheat. My love for the beautiful game of cricket far outweighs and surpasses any threats which could be thrown my way,” the 35-year-old added.