Asif to appear before drug tribunal next week

Rawalpindi, Aug. 26: Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif will appear before a drug tribunal in India next week, local media reported on Tuesday.

Asif faces a ban of up to two years after the B sample of a drug test taken during the Indian Premier League on May 30 tested positive last week at the World Anti-Doping Agency’s laboratory in Switzerland.

"I had asked for some clarifications from the Indian Premier League on the doping case of Asif and would be traveling to India next week to attend a tribunal hearing," Asif’s lawyer Shahid Karim was quoted as saying by the News.

Asif’s B sample reading indicated 5.4mg of the steroid nandrolone, compared to the 6.2mg found in the A sample of the test taken while the player was contesting the IPL for the Delhi Daredevils.

The IPL drug tribunal comprises former Indian test captain Sunil Gavaskar, Dr Ravi Bapat and lawyer Shirish Gupte. "There is a difference in traces of banned substance in Asif’s sample and he would get a fair hearing from the tribunal," Bapat said.

Pakistan doping expert Dr. Danish Zaheer has said Asif could be cleared of the doping charge on the grounds of the discrepancy in the two (urine) samples. — AP