According to BCCI sources, Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif who represented the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League tested positive in the drug tests conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Mohammad Asif
Earlier, the name of the tainted cricketer was not disclosed but BCCI sources revealed to CNN-IBN that the Asif is the player that flunked the drugs test. Later, the reports were conformed as the IPL released an official statement on the issue.
According to an IPL release, the “DLF Indian Premier League compared the result from the WADA-approved laboratory in Switzerland with the data collected by IDTM, the Sweden-based independent agency which organized the anti-doping testing in accordance with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) standards, to confirm the player in violation is Mr. Mohammad Asif”.
“It was also checked if Mr. Md. Asif had applied for and was granted a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). It was found that Mr. Md. Asif had not applied for a TUE. A note in writing has been sent to the player and his home board and to the franchisee on the findings,” the release added. The TUE refers to exceptional circumstances where an athlete has used the certain drug, with a approval of the WADA.
The release also added that Asif has been informed that his urine sample had tested positive. He has the right to request that the B Sample (supplied by him at the same time as the A Sample which tested positive) be analyzed.
The release also says that in the even he asks for the B Sample to be tested, he he and his representative, along with an IPL representative, will have the right to attend the opening and analysis.
The release also says that once the results of the B Sample are received, it will be referred to the IPL Drug Tribunal, which consists of Dr Ravi Bapat, Sunil Gavaskar and Shirish Gupte, a leading lawyer.
The Tribunal will in due course follow the procedure as laid down in the Anti-Doping policy, the release added.
On Sunday, news broke that a cricketer had tested positive for drugs in the random tests conducted during the inaugural season of the IPL that ended on June 1, which was later confirmed by the IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi.
The IPL had sprang into action when reports from Pakistan suggested that fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was found carrying syringes in bulk on his way to India to participate in the competition to play for Kolkata Knight Riders. Organisers promptly announced random dope tests a month into the tournament.
Mohammad Asif, who along with Shoaib were ejected from the 2006 Champions Trophy after testing positive for a banned substance, was later detained at the Dubai airport for 19 days for alleged possession of opium while he was returning from India en route to Pakistan. Asif had played a pivotal part in Delhi’s run to the semi-finals of the inaugural competition.
Asif was released by the authorities in Dubai, but a PCB-appointed tribunal will soon begin its own inquiry into the matter.
WADA officials had taken random samples during the tournament, and it has confirmed that one player failed the test.
Modi on Sunday confirmed that there was indeed a positive dope test. “We have been conveyed by WADA. One player has tested positive, according to random tests conducted by a Swiss lab. We do not know who he is.”
Fourteen players were tested in all during the tests which got underway one month after the IPL began. “Two days ago the IPL received a letter from a Swiss agency, mandated by WADA, which said one sample had tested positive. The IPL will follow set procedures from now on,” Modi said.
Modi said that once the player is identified, he would have to produce a prescription to justify the use of the drug.
“The testing is done in two stages. If the player has a prescription, it’s okay and the process gets over in stage one. But if the first stage fails and the player does not have a prescription for the drug, he has to be present at the lab with an IPL official to authenticate. If result is positive, then the matter goes to the drug tribunal of IPL that includes lawyer Shishir Gupte, and Sunil Gavaskar,” Modi added.
In case that does not happen, the player is informed and a ‘B’ sample is sent for testing. If that, too, is positive the matter will be taken up by the IPL’s drugs tribunal.
The IPL Chairman explained that the results of the dope tests took time to come out because there isn’t a WADA-accredited laboratory in India. “The results take six weeks to come as there’s no WADA-authenticated lab in India. The samples are sent to Malaysia or Switzerland,” he said, adding: “I am not worried, we will stick to the procedure.”
Courtesy :- CNN-IBN
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