PAKISTAN: CRICKET - Reaction from fast bowler Mohammad Asif to Pakistan Cricket Board appeals tribunal decision to the lifting of the ban on him and Akhtar for drug abuse

Speaking in Lahore on Tuesday (December 5), Mohammad Asif had a smile on his face as he spoke about the lifting of the ban by an appeals tribunal. "I am very delighted by this (decision). This is all from God. I had gone through anxiety but my family was a great support. I was worried but helpless. (Now) I am very happy, I am thankful to God. My next plan is to fulfil the expectations of my people. I am hundred percent fit, and I have been practising for one and a half week at the academy. Now it is up to the selectors what they do," the fast bowler said. Akhtar had been banned for two years and Asif for one year in early November after the pair tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone. Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board-appointed appeals tribunal Justice Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, announcing the decision in Karachi, said the three-member commission had established that Akhtar and Asif were never advised against taking supplements. The cricketers were exonerated when the panel ruled that they had not had sufficient warning the supplements they were taking could be contaminated by the steroid. Nor were they provided with any international or local publications warning them against the use of supplements and anti-doping measures. The Pakistan cricket Board backed the decision and ruled out any backlash from the International Cricket Council (ICC) or World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf insisted the players had been cleared after an independent and transparent process and since they had tested positive out-of-competition the PCB was not expecting the ICC to react negatively. "The testing was done out of competition, and because it was done out of competition, the country rules apply, which is the PCB rules," Ashraf told a news conference in Islamabad. He said the appeals tribunal had said that PCB had followed all the international anti-doping regulations in carrying out the tests. The players have been exonerated because they didn't knowingly take the banned substance, he added. The board accepted the decision of the tribunal as it had honoured the bans on the players by the inquiry commission, he said. "After this the matter is closed; that's the end of the matter. Any reservations of ICC or WADA will have no impact on the players after this," Ashraf said. Ashraf who had recalled Akhtar and Asif from the Champions Trophy in India after they tested positive for a banned steroid, nandrolone, said the board would continue to carry out random tests of the players within Pakistan. He said he was happy for the players and believed them when they maintained that they had not taken the banned substance intentionally. He said the transparent nature of the appeals tribunal was highlighted as one member had given a dissent note and disagreed with the majority decision to exonerate the players, adding they would look at the dissent note seriously and see what it had to say. He ruled out an early comeback to international cricket for Akhtar and Asif saying, keeping in mind the fact that the traces of nandrolone remained in the body for three to four months, the players would have to prove their match fitness and form first. The lifting of the ban was welcomed by cricket fans in Karachi. Former Pakistan captain Mushtaq Mohammad said: "This is very delightful that both of them have been cleared. This will benefit Pakistani cricket and strengthen the Pakistan team." Other young cricketers were also pleased at the tribunal's decision.

ITN Source | December 6, 2006

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