PCB ready to take on WADA

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board has said it is prepared to face any move from the World Anti-Doping Agency challenging the decision to set aside the doping bans on fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. Amidst reports that WADA may challenge the decision of the PCB-appointed appeals tribunal to exonerate the pacemen of doping charges, a senior PCB official said it was prepared for the eventuality.

“We feel we did the right thing in appointing the inquiry and appeals tribunals to hear out the case and the fact is that both players were exonerated on basis of the anti-doping regulations of the Pakistan Cricket Board and not that of WADA or the International Cricket Council,” he said. “The bottom line is that both players tested positive in an out of competition test that we carried out and it was not supervised by the ICC or WADA,” he said.

He said the Board was consulting its legal team on possible action from WADA and even had the option of using barrister Mark Gay to defend itself. Gay is an acknowledged legal expert on doping cases and was called by the Board to assist the appeals tribunal as a friend of the court.

Asif has admitted that it was Gay who helped them get reprieve and that he had submitted that bans were not admissible as the tests were carried out under PCB local regulations.

“If the need arises we can seek any legal expert’s help. But so far neither the ICC nor WADA have told us anything about any possible challenge of the decision of the appeals panel,” the official said.

A WADA official said today it may challenge Pakistan’s decision to overturn bans but will await the result of talks with the ICC. Shoaib was banned for two years and Asif for one year in November after testing positive for a banned steroid and were called back from the Champions Trophy in India. They pleaded innocence on the ground that they did not take the substance intentionally.

The ICC and WADA have made it clear they were not satisfied with the tribunal’s decision. WADA official Frederiz Donze said it was in the process of studying the case and was yet to get a copy of the decision from the tribunal.

“We are presently in touch with the ICC and will see what we can do.”

But he did not rule out the possibility of a strong action.

It is being speculated that WADA could challenge the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but Donze said it was premature to confirm anything. Sources in the PCB said that WADA and the ICC were still waiting for the report of a member of the tribunal Dr. Danish Zaheer who was against the exoneration.