Re: Breaking News: Shoaib and Asif cleared of doping charges
cricinfo’s obsession with the verdict of the appellate tribunal continues
WADA concerned about Shoaib and Asif being cleared
Nagraj Gollapudi
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/story/272442.html
The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) has expressed concern at the manner in which Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan bowlers, were cleared by an appellate tribunal despite having “in essence accepted that they had the banned substance in their bodies” as they didn’t opt for a B-sample analysis.
“Should that go without a sanction? This doesn’t fit with the whole process that we have in place globally. So that is of some concern on the face of it”, David Howman, the WADA director-general, told Cricinfo in an interview.
Howman was echoing the words of Dick Pound, the WADA chief, who has termed the lifting of the bans as “aberrational.” Howman, former head of the New Zealand Sports Drug Agency, said he was not present when Pound made the statement but had an idea what he was getting at. “I don’t know what he said (but) I can anticipate that he might be saying that **it would be most unusual that athletes who have in essence accepted that they had the banned substance in their bodies they didn’t challenge the analysis by even getting the B tests analysed.” **