Former South Africa Test cricketers Thami Tsolekile and Lonwabo Tsotsobe arrested over match-fixing

Former South Africa Test cricketers Thami Tsolekile and Lonwabo Tsotsobe have been arrested over long-running match-fixing allegations and charged with corruption, leaving them facing the possibility of prison sentences if they are convicted.

They were both previously given long bans from cricket along with other players.

Tsolekile and Tsotsobe were arrested last month over a match-fixing scandal relating to a domestic tournament in South Africa in 2015, police said Saturday. They have been charged with five counts under South Africa’s anti-corruption law after appearing in a specialised commercial crimes court in Pretoria.

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The anti-corruption law allows for prison sentences of up to 18 years in some circumstances, although two other players who previously pleaded guilty in relation to the same scandal received suspended prison sentences.

Tsolekile, who is 44, played three Tests for South Africa 20 years ago. He was banned from all cricket for 12 years in 2016. Tsotsobe, a 40-year-old former seam bowler who played for South Africa in tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20 games from 2009-14, was banned for eight years in 2017.

Another domestic-level cricketer, Ethy Mbhalati, also was arrested last month and is facing corruption charges alongside Tsolekile and Tsotsobe.

An investigation by cricket authorities into the 2015 scandal in South Africa’s Ram Slam T20 competition alleged players were approached by Gulam Bodi, a former South Africa international batsman, to fix matches or parts of matches on behalf of Indian bookmakers. Bodi was sentenced to five years in prison for trying to get the players to fix matches.

Investigators said they believed the players discussed the possibility of fixing matches but no fixing occurred.

Two other players were arrested in 2021 and 2022, respectively. They received suspended prison sentences of between four and six years after pleading guilty.

A special police unit had been investigating Tsolekile and Tsotsobe since 2016.