Former West Indies Cricketer Marlon Samuels ‘Tells Off’ ICC After Corruption Charges: “Feel Like Me A Walkover?”

Retired West Indies all-rounder, now Dancehall artist, Marlon Samuels, lashed the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Instagram this afternoon, days after the cricket governing body accused him of breaching its anti-corruption code, during the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament in 2019.

The controversial public figure who uses the Dancehall moniker ‘Icon’, made it a point of his duty to demonstrate to the cricketing world and his fans that he is unperturbed by the misconduct charges laid against him, as he showed off his high-rolling lifestyle and pushed back at the ICC.

The Icon posted a series of videos and photos on his Instagram stories showing himself somewhere overseas, highlighting, among other things, his Sextillion 7th power fragrances.

The Kingstonian also showed off his dinner at a high-end restaurant, video clips of himself shopping in a Versace store, his yellow Zebu energy drink, which he is promoting for a European company, and an interaction with a Pakinasti fan, who praised him for his contribution to Jamaican and West Indies cricket.

On Tuesday, Samuels, who played international cricket from 2000 to 2018, was charged by the ICC on behalf of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) for breaching four codes of their Anti-Corruption code for Participants of the T10 League (the ‘Code’), according to the ICC.

The international governing body for cricket said in a release on its website that Samuels was to answer to four offenses under the Code, which took place during the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament in 2019.

“Failing to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official, the receipt of any gift, payment, hospitality or other benefit that was made or given in circumstances that could bring the Participant or the sport of cricket into disrepute; failing to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official receipt of hospitality with a value of US $750 or more; failing to cooperate with the Designated Anti-Corruption Official’s investigation and obstructing or delaying the Designated Anti-Corruption Official’s investigation by concealing information that may have been relevant to the investigation.

The ICC also said Samuels would be given a time period of 14 days in which to respond to the charges.

However, despite the international flare-up, the Icon, in his usual abrasive style, dismissed the ICC and the Emirates and bragged of his accomplishments, declaring that he was unstoppable.

In his first show of braggadocio, the Kingston College old boy shared championship images of himself in his Windies cricketing gear and captioned it: ‘Sextillion there is only one winner in this and that’s me”.

“My old enemy fall into my trap so easy now I got your attention lol.  Go speak to who play. I didn’t,” he noted in another, pointing out that he was guilty of nothing, as he did not play any game in the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament, effectively dismissing the ICC and its charges.

On another post he added: “Less than 1000US in your rule books.  That can ban me.  Lol.  Me spend more than that on a no spending day.  Go hide.  Feel like me a walkover,” he declared.

He then went on to post a statement from one of his fans that: “Dem still a fight the greatness and can’t win legend”, to which he boldly responded: “Lol.  Fight demself”.

Again Icon continued: ‘How dem fi try stop dem speed yah? I have no limit now that I live in the sky,” supposedly an ode to marijuana as his next post noted: “Time to smoke some high grade in that store. The man dem weed bad. One night me fly go Cuba”.

During his international career, the now 40-year-old played 71 test matches, 207 One Day Internationals, and 67 T20Is for the Windies.   He scored 17 centuries, 11,134 runs and snatched 152 wickets and top-scored in the T20 World Cup finals of 2012 and 2016.

The Icon is well-known in Dancehall for his protracted social media feuds and bantering with other Dancehall artists. These include an infamous online beef with selector Foota Hype in 2018, which started after he claimed that the Calabar High School old boy was “carrying feelings” over his appearance in his ex-girlfriend Ishawna’s Insta Boy music video, following which he released the mocking song Spoon Head aimed at Foota.

He also jeered Usain Bolt when the track icon released his Living the Dream single, and reposted a video of a local comedian mocking the song and dismissing it as f_kery.

Samuels has also had verbal spats with Mr. Vegas, whom he lampooned mercilessly after the Heads High singer was bodily thrown out of a church.

He also had conflicts with his ex Yanique ‘Curvy Diva’ in 2018, an upcoming singer Ikon and Devin di Dakta’s manager Shelly-Ann Curran in 2019 over the artist’s New Flame single, after Devin poked fun at him with lyrics saying: “nuh matter how me love di gyal dem, none cyah mad me cuz me nuh Marlon Samuels”, in reference to the rift between the batsman and the Curvy Diva.