Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif tested positive for banned substances during this year’s Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL), organisers said yesterday.
“The Indian Premier League compared the result from the WADA-approved laboratory in Switzerland with the data collected by IDTM, the Sweden-based independent agency which organised the anti-doping testing in accordance with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) standards, to confirm the player in violation is Mr Mohammad Asif,” the IPL said in a statement.
Random tests on 14 players were carried out by the WADA-accredited Swiss agency during the latter half of the IPL
DAREDEVILS
Asif, 25, played for the Delhi Daredevils team in the IPL, a lucrative Twenty20 tournament that ran from April 18-June 1 and featured the world’s top players.
The nature of the substance has not been disclosed.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed the finding and urged the Indian board to strictly follow the procedures.
“The ICC is aware of an adverse analytical finding (AAF) from the recently concluded IPL,” it said in a statement.
“As with any AAF that arises during a testing programme organised by one of the ICC’s members, it is the responsibility of that member, in this case the BCCI, to deal with the process in a timely and fair manner,” the statement said.
“The ICC is proud of its status as a WADA signatory and will be closely monitoring the situation to ensure the correct action is taken by the BCCI,” it continued.
“The ICC retains a right of appeal if any penalty that may be imposed is inconsistent with the WADA Code,” the statement said.
World cricket has been hit by a series of drug scandals in the last five years.
DIURETICS
Australian spin great Shane Warne was sent home from the 2003 World Cup in South Africa and later banned for one year when he tested positive for banned diuretics.
Asif and Pakistan teammate Shoaib Akhtar were withdrawn from the Champions Trophy in India in 2006 after they both tested positive for nandrolone in an internal test carried out by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Both were let off by the PCB after they appealed.
Asif was also detained at Dubai airport for three weeks for possessing opium while returning from the IPL last month. But Dubai public prosecutors dropped the case citing “insignificance” and deported him to Pakistan.
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