Cric News:Asif tested positive during IPL - Page 2

KARACHI: Pakistan have suspended pace bowler Mohammad Asif from all cricket after he failed a dope test in the Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL), the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Tuesday.

"The ban will remain until his appeal... is decided or the anti-doping committee of the IPL and ICC (International Cricket Council) reach a final verdict on his case," the PCB said.

The board said Asif was banned from participating in cricket including its organisation, administration and promotion by or under the auspices of the PCB, the ICC or its member countries.

Senior board official, Shafqat Naghmi said Pakistan had a strict zero tolerance policy towards doping and would assist the ICC, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the IPL in enforcing the anti-doping regulations in the Asif case.

"We will be closely monitoring the case and will offer every reasonable assistance to the ICC and other ICC members as they may require for the implementation and enforcement of their anti-doping regulations," Naghmi said.

ASIF OMITTED

Asif was on Tuesday omitted from Pakistan's Champions Trophy preliminary squad for the tournament being hosted by the country in September after the selectors had initially included him on the 30-member list last week before delaying its release.

Asif on Tuesday hired a lawyer, Shahid Karim, and confirmed he would challenge the positive test by requesting the B sample result in a bid to prove his innocence.

The board's Naghmi added: "PCB is WADA compliant and has a comprehensive anti-doping policy which extends to all cricketers under the jurisdiction of the PCB".

The latest doping controversy is the third drugs-related scandal to hit Pakistan cricket since 2006, all involving Asif.

Shoaib Akhtar and Asif tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone in 2006 in out of competition tests conducted by the Pakistan board before the Champions Trophy in India.

They were initially banned for two years but the suspension was overturned by the board's anti-doping appeals committee, which said the pair had argued they had taken supplements in the belief they did not contain prohibited substances.

Last month Asif spent 19 days in detention in Dubai for alleged possession of an illegal substance. He still faces a probe by a PCB fact-finding committee although he was released without charge by the Dubai public prosecutor.