The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked Mohammad Asif to defend for himself over the fallout of his testing positive for a banned substance. The incident happened during the Indian Premier League (IPL).
This is Asif’s second drug offence and the board has warned of a life ban if he is found guilty. Asif has pleaded innocence. He claims that he had been extra careful in avoiding usage of any banned substance.

However, after completing his stint with the Delhi Daredevils, he was detained in Dubai for possession of contraband drugs in June for 19 days and he is already the subject of a board inquiry into those events.

As per Shafqat Naghmi,the PCB’s chief operating officer, “Our policy on dope offenders is very clear. The board will not provide any kind of help to Asif and he will have to fight his case himself.

Asif is now in deep trouble as a second drug offence means a life ban. If he is left to fight for himself this time, it simply means a change the board’s policy. In 2006, Asif and Shoaib Akhtar had their bans overturned after appealing successfully to an independent committee against the original puishments. Though they had a technical escape, it was widely speculated that the decision had the PCB’s complicit support.

Asif was again later detained at Dubai airport, and the board subsequently provided legal aid and behind-the-scenes help to secure his release. Naghmi said the board has demanded Asif to return those expenses.

The PCB’s reluctance to help Asif may also stem from the confusion over which body - from the ICC, BCCI, IPL or the PCB - has jurisdiction over this latest scandal. The ICC in a release stated yesterday that it was the responsibility of the BCCI to “deal with the process in a timely and fair manner” and Naghmi said it’s likely the BCCI would form a tribunal and the ICC’s anti-doping policy would apply.

The decision of PCB to distance itself from the Asif casehas invited lashings from  former Pakistan cricketers .  Aamer Sohail, a former captain, has blamed the board for not taking appropriate action against doping after Asif and Shoaib tested positive for a banned substance Nandrolone in 2006.

“My question is, what has the PCB done in this regard,” asks  Sohail . “What measures did the board take since Asif and Shoaib Akhtar tested positive for banned drugs in 2006? Had they introduced dope testing in domestic cricket? The board has totally failed to handle things.”

The last two years have been the worst for Pakistan cricket. The recent incidents show that the situation will get worsened if no action is taken.

Other Related ArticlesPCB and BCCI to Discuss Cricket at ColomboPCB Wants India to Visit PakistanPCB to Take Akhtar’s Comments SeriouslyDhoni in Race for ICC AwardsPakistan promise VIP security Bookmark It

 Del.icio.us    digg  
 Facebook    Google Bookmarks    Stumble It    Technorati    Yahoo! My Web  
Hide Sites Tags : Cricket, PCB, doping, drugs, Mohammed Asif, Amir Sohail, Dubai

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 at 8:35 am and is filed under Cricket. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.