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Pakistani cricketer detained in Dubai for drug possession

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif has been detained at Dubai airport for possession of illegal drugs, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official said yesterday.

“Yes, he has been detained by authorities at Dubai airport for the last 36 hours,” PCB official Nadeem Akram said from Dubai.

“We are co-ordinating with the Pakistan embassy and handling this issue. The substance recovered from him has been sent for tests. He is detained not arrested,” Akram said.

He later told Geo television news channel that Asif had been carrying traditional medicine in his wallet.

“We are not sure about the make of the substance, which was prescribed to him by a local hakeem [Ayurvedic practitioner] for his elbow injury,” Akram said. “We have sent his blood and urine samples for tests.”

Akram said the PCB had hired a lawyer in Dubai and would be meeting with the public prosecutor later in the day.

Sources on the board said Asif, who was detained while returning from India after playing in the domestic Twenty20 league, is likely to be bailed.

They added they had only learned of Asif’s detention late on Sunday and immediately sent a team to resolve the matter.

“Obviously it was a big embarrassment for Pakistan cricket but we first have to see what is the real case,” an official said on condition of anonymity.

Asif was on Monday named in the Pakistan squad to play in a series in Bangladesh from Sunday.

Asif was banned for one year after he tested positive for the steroid nandrolone in October 2006. The ban was lifted on appeal two months later.
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