Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
I think they r guilty, but who knows maybe its becuz of sum doctors incompetence while treating the two's injuries.
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
Public shocked as news sinks in
Drugs-test hearing to be held within fortnight
Osman SamiuddinThe Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will have its drugs tribunal to investigate charges of doping against Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif in place by the end of this week. But as the Islamic festival of Eid is scheduled to begin early next week, it appears unlikely any conclusion will be reached until, at the earliest, late next week.
The tribunal will comprise three people; a former Test cricketer - thought by many to be Intikhab Alam - an eminent lawyer and a sports doctor. Both Shoaib and Asif are expected to plead their innocence to the charges; in a meeting yesterday with PCB officials they denied taking any performance-enhancing steroids willingly. Dr Naseem Ashraf, the PCB chairman, has repeatedly asserted that both will be given a fair trial and be allowed a full opportunity to defend themselves but also that the board has a zero-tolerance policy towards doping. If found guilty, both players could face a two-year ban.
While Asif has remained largely silent on the issue - he did tell reporters at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore that not being a tearaway fast bowler, he had no need to use steroids - Shoaib has had his innocence defended with more vigour. He initially publicly denied any wrongdoing on bigstarcricket.com. His personal doctor, Dr Tauseef Razzak has also argued that Shoaib was using herbal medicines for various injuries, which might explain the presence of nandrolone in his samples.
Razzak told Reuters, “After undergoing surgery in Australia and subsequent treatment for the stress fracture, Shoaib has been seeing a hakim (doctor). It is a possibility that nandrolone was mixed in herbal medicines that he has been taking. He has been tested before during ICC events but has never tested positive.”
Cricinfo has also learnt that Shoaib had been granted permission from the ICC to use Ventolin inhalers for his asthma condition. The inhalers are thought to contain a small amount of steroids though not nandrolone.
One local newspaper also claimed that Shoaib had delayed his testing and had ended up giving it a day later than his colleagues.
Pakistan, meanwhile, is slowly coming to terms with what has happened. Leading newspapers carried editorials on the doping scandal. Karachi-based Dawn, with customary balance, said the latest scandal “had the potential to debilitate the side for months to come,” and that the team “would have to live with a brand new taint.” It also reminded readers, however, that the possibility still existed that the two players had unwittingly taken the substance.
The News put on a brave face, enthusiastically championing the PCB’s bravery in handling the situation publicly while also arguing that “Pakistan cricket is strong enough to weather such storms.”
With monotonous predictability, two ex-captains, Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, have slammed the PCB’s handling of the matter. Imran questioned the timing of the tests and asked why they could not have been taken earlier, thus preventing Pakistan the trouble of pulling out the two just one day before their opening match.
**Miandad blamed Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, arguing that it was his responsibility to make sure players knew what they were taking. “Woolmer has a battery of assistants, there are so many doctors on the PCB panel, they should also be investigated because players don’t know what medicines they are taking.” **
Fans are still in shock. One US-based reader wrote in to a newspaper saying, “I have been walking around all day feeling like someone has punched me in the gut and I am finding it extremely hard to recover from it.” One cricket-mad mother expressed similar angst, though quickly argued that “it must be a PCB-conspiracy to get rid of Shoaib.”
Above all, as one follower put it, the gravity of what has happened is sinking in. "We can laugh off the captaincy changes and board changes. 'Yeh toh hota rehta he (‘This stuff keeps happening). But drug charges? That is really serious.’ As we will see, no doubt, over the coming week.
Osman Samiuddin is Pakistan editor of Cricinfo
© Cricinfo
Source: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/current/story/263551.html
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
abey Mindad has no other point to make but to put down WOOLMER all the time…
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
Yes agree.
Any opportunity given - he will criticise Woolmer. What difference would he have made if he was the coach or what understanding does he have about medicine/drugs issues etc.
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
Pakistan unveils three-man doping tribunal
KARACHI, Oct 18 (AFP)
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Wednesday unveiled a three-man tribunal that will hear doping charges against fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, possibly as early as this week. The tribunal will be chaired by barrister Shahid Hamid and will also include former Test captain and coach Intikhab Alam and an unnamed doctor who is an expert on doping, PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf said. The doctor on the tribunal will be named on Thursday, the PCB said.(Posted @ 18:50 PST)
From www.dawn.com
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
^ were those men wearing veils before? :D
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
Any opportunity given - he will criticise Woolmer. What difference would he have made if he was the coach or what understanding does he have about medicine/drugs issues etc.
He might have given them maalish so that they don't have to medicines with the steriod in them...
:D
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
Yes possibly.:D
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
So panel will discuss and then we will see smoke out of chimney.
White smoke means ???
Black smoke means ???
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
I dont think so if anything will happen, I am not clear can ICC intervene? or its in PCB's hand to give out the penalty to our front star bowlers. I am sure they will tell the bowlers to rest and exercise before worldcup = penalty!
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
ICC can't intervene since they weren't caught by the ICC but PCB so PCB will impose the penalty.
Let's see what's the outcome of the inquiry.
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
You still need the skill, and that doesn’t come from steriods
Drugs don’t work
Michael Holding
October 18, 2006
Pakistan have done what they had to do with Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. They’ve found that their drugs tests were positive, and they’ve sent the pair home from the Champions Trophy. It was the right move and the ICC have congratulated Pakistan for taking such action.
But the strange thing is that, in my time, I have never heard any cricketers who’ve used drugs say: “Yes, this is helping me” for any reason. I don’t think necessarily that when these guys are taking steroids, or Nandrolone, that they are trying to become new Atlases. They are just trying to strengthen their bodies. Some athletes, for example, have been tested positive and they’ve said ‘but all I’ve done is taken food supplements’.
Of course I’ve heard of people taking things like marijuana and smoking stuff, but I don’t think they count as performance-enhancing. But who knows? I’ve not done it, so I don’t know if it would have made me a better player! You heard stories and talked about other players, but those guys never said it helped them, it just made them feel better. It’s a personal thing about an individual’s attitude to the game.
Personally, I believe there is too much pressure on modern-day players and especially on the fast bowlers - only Brett Lee manages to stay fit for any length of time, while Shoaib has missed as many Tests as he has played. In my playing days, I never heard of any fast bowler ever taking steroids. But these days they have to constantly worry about what’s happening tomorrow, and next week, and next month and the next tour. There’s too much work.
In my time I remember going to the gym to lift weights, to get stronger and to run a lot; you need that strong body to bowl fast, to bowl for long periods and also to recover. But that’s just strengthening; the most important factor is skill, and that’s not something that you’ll get from using steroids.
All people ever talk about nowadays is “bowling the ball in the right areas”. You don’t hear anything about speed, and frightening the batsmen out of the way because they cannot afford to do it with the amount of cricket being played now. How many genuine fast bowlers are there and how many are genuinely able to bowl fast and for long periods of time? Every now and then you find they get injured.
The amount of cricket being played increases the risk of injury, and so perhaps the temptation to use drugs increases as well. But the ICC need to be more proactive. They probably don’t want to tread on people’s toes by introducing their own testing on top of that conducted by their member countries, but in fact there are only five nations who actually conduct regular tests. There are a lot of other Test-playing countries, not to mention those countries that have been given one-day international status. The ICC have to be responsible for that area of the game.
What I’m looking at is a situation similar to that which happens in athletics. Countries do their own testing - England have found positive tests, USA have too - but the ICC, for every tournament they are in charge of, whether it’s Under-19, Under-15, ICC Champions Trophy or the World Cup, need to do their own testing at those tournaments, whether the countries involved have done so or not.
SOURCE: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/westindies/content/story/263515.html
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
^ Thanks. Holding makes a lot of sense as usual in this article. Reminds me of Boyks remark in 1992 ' Wasim and Waqar would have bowled most sides out with an orange never mind a cricket ball' when the two W's were being accused of ball-tampering. You need talent, skill and ability first and foremost. It's like saying a batsman would score hundreds more often than ducks if their bats were half an inch wider.
I hope the PCB for once acts smart and absolves the two players of the alleged crime. They should blame it all on the injections given by their specialist (an anonymous doctor) saying the players had absolutely no idea that the injections could possibly contain a banned substance. Even if the players are guilty of some hanky panky, the PCB should not punish them publicly but give them a stern warning behind closed doors. I know it does n't sound right but that's what I would do if I were in charge to save our players and our country further embarrassment and humiliation. There is no need for us to act whiter than white and show greater transparency than others esp. as no other test-playing country has conducted drug tests on their players recently.
Even a nominal punishment of 3-4 months (effectively a period of rest before the WC) would mean that the players were guilty in some way and could invite further unnecessary intervention by WADA.
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
holding just rambled on for paragraphs attacking an argument that nobody has made.
nobody has claimed that steroids are a primary contributor to performance or that they can replace talent and skill. this is not the case in any sport, let alone sports like baseball and cricket.
however, a fast bowler versus a stronger version of himself (all else equal). who will bowl faster? obviously the stronger version. it is common sense.
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
Inzi bhai is sad but still hopeful…finally breaks his silence on the doping issue
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\10\19\story_19-10-2006_pg2_4](http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\10\19\story_19-10-2006_pg2_4)
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
Pakistan dope-row pair victims of ignorance, says Shahryar
Thursday, October 19, 2006
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\10\19\story_19-10-2006_pg2_5](http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\10\19\story_19-10-2006_pg2_5)
KARACHI: Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan said Wednesday that pacemen Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, at the centre of a doping scandal, were likely the victims of ignorance. Khan, who resigned two weeks ago amid a row over the team captaincy, said he believed the pair would not have taken the banned performance-enhancing steroid nandrolone on purpose. “We had warned the players, especially all those who were injured, they must consult doctors before taking any medicine and it’s hugely disappointing that two key players are now facing charges,” Khan told AFP from Lahore. Akhtar and Asif will face a PCB doping tribunal after they tested positive for nandrolone and were called home from the Champions Trophy in India on Monday. “We had been warning the players to be cautious about using medicines and the warnings were included in their central contracts as well. But they did not heed them – in fact players do not read their contracts,” added Khan. However the former diplomat added that it was up to the tribunal to assess why the pair had tested positive, “whether they have taken it to cure their injuries or it’s for the enhancement of performance.” Khan dismissed accusations by former captain Imran Khan that the timing of the tests was wrong and that they should have come before the naming of the squad for the Champions Trophy. “The ICC has a clear policy on doping and had directed member countries to have dope tests on the players, and that is why we conducted tests in late September,” he said. afp
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
oyay …Shoiba Hakeem kay paas kiyon giya bhai…:naraz:
neem hakim khatray jaan!
:clown:
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
so who is the real dope here..?
I mean what a dope!
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
Quite right.
Miandad’s counterpart in India is Kapil Dev. He criticizes Chappel for everything including for excess salt in his daal.
These desi ex-cricketers think that just because they were big names during their playing days, only they should become Coach of their national team . Appointment of a phirangi to the post leaves them very bitter.
Coaching requires a lot of soft skills and technical savviness which neither Miandad or Kapil Dev have.
Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif called back to Pakistan!
Shoaib, Asif drugs ruling in two weeks
Andrew Ramsey October 20, 2006
THE playing futures of fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif is expected to be resolved within two weeks, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced yesterday.
A three-man tribunal appointed by the PCB is scheduled to begin hearing evidence next week and the board believes the panel will have made a finding and a penalty within a fortnight.
Shoaib and Asif returned positive results showing illegal levels of the banned steroid nandrolone in tests conducted by the PCB last month. They face a ban of up to two years, although the severity of the penalty is in the hands of the PCB given it conducted the testing of its own volition outside of competition.
The tribunal includes former Pakistan Test captain and coach Intikhab Alam and will be chaired by lawyer Shahid Hamid, who briefly represented Salim Malik at a hearing into match-fixing in 1998.
“It will be an independent committee and will investigate the issue in a fair manner,” Ashraf said yesterday.
“The committee will examine everything. It will see the reports of the tests, will hear out the players and consider testimonies of the experts involved. We expect it to come out with a report in about two weeks time.”
Asif, the promising 23-year-old pace bowler whose involvement in the scandal has surprised most Pakistani cricket experts, has protested his innocence and claimed he might have unknowingly been injected with the banned substance.
He said yesterday that he received injections as part of his rehabilitation from an elbow injury he sustained on Pakistan’s tour of England this year.
“I have never used any performance-enhancing drugs in my life,” he said.
"I can tell you very honestly that I have never ever come near to such substances. The only possibility is that there might be something in the injections I used during recovery of my injury.
“During my injury and recovering process, I did use some injections only with the permission of and prescription of doctors. It is up to the board how they take our cases. I will, however, request them to take the B sample before making their judgment.”
Meanwhile, Shoaib has been subjected to an increasingly reckless campaign of allegations and conspiracies through the Indian media which is bound by comparatively lax libel laws.
His personal physician has become something of a personality, conducting interviews with any number of outlets in which he proclaims Shoaib’s innocence and fans the flames of conspiracy.
“To get nandrolone into anybody’s system in this country (Pakistan) is very easy,” the doctor, Tauseef Razzak, told a New Delhi-based TV news station yesterday.
“It’s easily available and cheap, and the conspiracy is simple because they (the players) are accessible. It could have been mixed in fruit juice or food. It can happen through meat and food supplements as well.”
SOURCE: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20611597-5001505,00.html