The Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday said it would consider pacer Mohammad Asif innocent until he is chargesheeted by authorities in Dubai for possessing banned drug.
KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday said it would consider pacer Mohammad Asif innocent until he is chargesheeted by authorities in Dubai for possessing banned drug.
Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB Chief Operating Officer, told a press conference in Lahore that he was hopeful that the matter would be resolved soon and the whole affair would prove a big mistake.
"Asif has not been chargesheeted as yet for possessing any drugs or banned substances. The substance found with him has been sent for laboratory tests after which the situation will become clearer," he said.
Asked why there was a delay in getting the results of the tests, Naghmi said he couldn't answer this as the Dubai authorities were supervising things.
But he confirmed that he had spoken to Asif, who was detained on Sunday while returning to Pakistan after playing in the Indian Premier League.
"We are hopeful he will return home and if that happens, that itself would be an indication that he is innocent. So there would be no question of taking any disciplinary action against him."
"But if he is chargesheeted then I am afraid he then has to face a case under the laws of the United Arab Emirates," Naghmi said.
The PCB official said the board had sent one of its top official to Dubai and also hired a leading legal firm, Angel and Afridi, to manage the case.
Naghmi, despite being asked repeatedly what substance was found with Asif by Dubai authorities, said he had no idea about this.
When a reporter asked him why the board had selected Asif in the Pakistan squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh on Monday when he was already under detention since Sunday, Naghmi said till he was charged the board considered the pacer innocent.
The United Arab Emirates has one of the most stringent drugs codes in the world, where possession of even minute amounts of banned substances can lead to a minimum imprisonment of four years.
Asif appears to be in big trouble as there is also a zero tolerance policy in UAE for drug use even if the amount of the alleged hashish in Asif's wallet was microscopic.
The drug laws are so strict that even if one is tested positive for drug use, even without the charge of possession, the minimum four-year sentence applies.
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