Re: Breaking News: Shoaib and Asif BANNED
Doctor says fast bowler will contest ban
Shoaib might appeal
Cricinfo staff
November 2, 2006
Shoaib Akhtar is likely to appeal against the ban handed to him by the Pakistan board-appointed drug tribunal, sources close to the bowler confirmed to Cricinfo.
Shoaib was sentenced to a two-year ban from cricket after he and Mohammad Asif - banned for a year - tested positive for nandrolone, a muscle-building steroid banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Tauseef Razzaq, Shoaib’s doctor, also said that Shoaib was devastated by the decision and would definitely appeal against the ban. “There are a number of examples where athletes were given the benefit of the doubt for using substances unknowingly and there are studies by renowned universities of the world on whose basis Akhtar should have been cleared,” Razzaq told AFP, referring to Shoaib’s claim last month that he had not knowingly taken any performance-enhancing drugs.
Neither Shoaib nor Asif has issued any public statement regarding their decision to appeal. There are indications that Shoaib will hold a press conference later on the issue, though these have yet to be confirmed.
© Cricinfo
Source: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/current/story/266639.html