Former South African cricketer Gulam Bodi, who was sentenced for his role in South Africa’s 2015 domestic spot-fixing scandal at the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court on Friday (October 18), will serve five years in prison. He is the first South African to be charged under the 2004 Corrupt Activities Prevention and Fight Act, which was introduced after the match-fixing scandal of Hansie Cronje.
A Chinese bowler and hard-hitting left-handed batsman, Bodi played two ODIs and one T20I, featuring for the Proteas Test team.
Last November, the 40-year-old pleaded guilty to eight counts of sports-related bribery and begged the court for mercy after he was told he could be sentenced for up to 15 years.
His conviction was postponed on several occasions, once due to Bodi’s lack of funds.
A traveling cricketer, who had just lost his contract at the lions, Bodi used the access granted to him in September 2015 as a Supersport analyst to discuss former team-mates and members of the cricket-playing fraternity. He was lured by the prospect of making easy money during the forthcoming RAM / SLAM tournament.
He met with stakeholders in the fast-food chicken outlets, coffee shops, and a northern suburb strip club in Johannesburg.
He said, “It’s been a very big mistake in my life. Cricket is something I love and know. I was a first-class cricketer for 18 years. You can’t just kiss that goodbye.”
When asked by a journalist in the early stages of the investigation why he did it, Bodi replied: “Cash in hand, brother, cash in hand.”
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