New Delhi - Pakistani fast bowler Mohammed Asif tested positive for a banned substance during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket championship during May, news reports said Monday. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi confirmed that the 25-year-old player, who represented the Delhi Daredevils team in the IPL, had failed a random dope test conducted during the league, IANS news agency reported. Modi did not give any details of the doping substance.
Asif had tested positive during random sample tests carried out by IDTM, a Sweden-based independent agency which organized testing in accordance with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) standards, the IPL commissioner said. The data was then compared with the result from a WADA-approved laboratory in Switzerland.
Modi said Asif was nursing a injury on his bowling arm when he came to play for the IPL but had not applied for a therapeutic use exemption. The fast bowler had to sit out several matches because of the injury.
Modi said that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Daredevils' franchise owner GMR had been informed about the findings of Asif's samples. The PCB is believed to have sought legal advice on the matter, IANS reported. The fast bowler can now request the IPL to analyse his B-sample and would then have to appear before the IPL drugs tribunal.
This is Asif's second offence and he may face a life ban for violating the WADA code. He was banned for a year for his first offence in October 2006, when he failed a dope test conducted by PCB along with fellow fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.
Asif is also facing a PCB inquiry after being detained for 19 days in Dubai for possessing a banned drug.
WADA officials from Sweden carried out the random dope tests May 18 onwards when the 44-day IPL was moving towards its final phase.
