Re: Breaking News: Akhtar, Asif-beaing called back to Pakistan!
Here is the updated full story…
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/iccct2006/content/current/story/263238.html
Asif and Akhtar to return home
Osman Samiuddin
October 16, 2006
Pakistan cricket, already besieged by multiple controversies, has received another body blow with Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, their leading new-ball bolwers, testing positive for banned substances during an internal dope test carried out by the Pakistan Cricket Board. They have been recalled to Pakistan and will miss the Champions Trophy.
A PCB official told Cricinfo that the board, as signatories to the ICC’s Anti-Doping Policy (ADP), had carried out a routine test on a group of 18-20 players at the end of September. The tests were put in place at the behest of Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach and are thought to be the first ever held in Pakistan cricket. The results were sent to the nearest World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) laboratory, in Malaysia for analysis. “They told us two samples had come back positive - of Asif and Shoaib - and the chairman was duly informed,” said the official.
The board has asked for the concerned samples to be tested again and though the results have not yet arrived - they are due today or tomorrow - the two bowlers have been called back to Pakistan. Details are currently hazy about the next step in the testing: while one official said that the same sample was being tested again, another explained that a new test might have to be carried out all over again.
The decision to call back the players pre-empts the embarrassment of them being found guilty during the tournament, at one of the random drugs tests recently put in place by the ICC for major events. The ICC had, according to the PCB, been informed of the situation and a decision was expected to be taken soon on whether two replacements can be sent.
The PCB also set up a drugs tribunal to investigate the matter. The official said, “We have set up a drugs tribunal, consisting of lawyers, doctors and PCB officials to fully investigate this case. They will look at the lab reports and also hear from the players before deciding on a suitable punishment.” Avoiding any sort of ban appears, for the moment, inconceivable.
What the PCB might also want to look at is the collection of rumours and speculation over the last six months regarding this very issue. One doctor, an ex-PCB employee who had worked closely with members of the team, had hinted over the summer about possible steroid use to aid Shoaib’s rehabilitation from injury. At least one other source close to the team has also suggested likewise. None of this was, however, confirmed and at no point was Asif’s name brought up.
There are echoes in this of Shane Warne’s sensational ouster from the 2003 World Cup. Warne, high-profile like Shoaib, was sent home from the tournament on the morning of Australia’s opening game against Pakistan after testing positive for a diuretic. His case was heard under Cricket Australia’s anti-doping policy, which followed a test by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.
The agency reported that a sample taken on January 22, 2003, showed diuretics and he was sent home almost three weeks later from the World Cup in South Africa hours before the team’s first game against Pakistan. He was banned from all cricket for a year, reduced from two, after a hearing. Pakistan will now have to do without their opening bowling attack, one day before their first game against Sri Lanka.
The news comes on the back of an autumn of turbulence for Pakistan cricket, taking in the Oval fiasco, a farcical captaincy saga and the replacement of the head of the board. The PCB is expected to hold an official press conference on the matter later in the afternoon.
