Pakistan Complete Out-Of-Competition

Pakistan on Tuesday completed out-of-competition drug tests on 26 of their leading players including dope-tainted pacers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif almost a week before naming the final 15-man squad for September’s Twenty20 World Cup.

Dr Sohail Salim, Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) medical officer, told ‘The News’ that he has collected urine samples from all the players featuring in the Karachi-leg of the training camp adding that the samples would soon be sent to a WADA-accredited laboratory in Malaysia.

“All the samples have been collected and we hope to get the results of the tests in about a week’s time,” Sohail said.

He said that a representative of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) would collect samples from a few other players in Pakistan’s preliminary squad for the Twenty20 World Cup, who are currently involved in county cricket in England.

“The players in England will have to provide urine samples in a similar way and we have made arrangements and somebody recognised by WADA would do it on our behalf soon,” he said.

He said that the results of the tests would be available with the PCB before the national selectors name the final squad around August 7. This is the third time that the PCB has opted for out-of-competition dope tests on the country’s leading players in a little less than a year.

Pakistan received a setback last September when Shoaib and Asif — the national team’s top strike bowlers — tested positive for banned anabolic steroid nandrolone during the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in India last September following tests conducted internally by the PCB.

It was a major blow which later snowballed into a legal issue after the two players were let off the hook after an appeals committee appointed by the PCB overturned bans imposed on them by an inquiry tribunal.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) reacted strongly on the u-turn and filed a case in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against it. However, the case was later dropped for lack of jurisdiction.

The development meant that Shoaib and Asif are free to play international cricket. The pace duo avoided dope tests before the ICC World Cup earlier this month and were later pulled out of the Caribbean-bound Pakistan squad though the PCB claimed it was done on fitness grounds.

Doping has been a highly controversial subject in Pakistan and Tuesday’s procedure ignited a fresh controversy following reports that WADA protocol was ignored by PCB officials while collecting urine samples in Karachi.

Doubts were raised in a radio report on the credibility of the tests because the Board officials collected samples from some of the players on Monday evening while the others were asked to be available for the procedure on Tuesday.

The WADA code, however, says that an athlete must present himself for testing within one hour after being notified in writing.

The code reads: “The players have a maximum of one hour to present themselves at the Doping Control Room for testing. During this time, they will be free to attend any post-match commitments, such as a presentation or press conference, but they will always be accompanied (albeit discreetly) by Sampling Officers, including inside the dressing rooms. All Team Managers and the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit are aware of these protocols.”

These measures are taken to ensure that a dope-offender doesn’t get enough time to flush out banned substances from his system or use any masking agents. However, Dr Sohail said that it was a baseless allegation.