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| February 24, 2003 | Monday | Zul Hijjah 22, 1423 |
Warne is no ‘drug cheat’: ACB chief
BULAWAYO (Zimbabwe), Feb 23:- Australian Cricket Board (ACB) chief executive officer James Sutherland has said he does not believe Shane Warne is a “drug cheat.”
Sutherland said he was content with the process by which the leg spinner was banned for 12 months under the ACB’s anti-doping policy, but felt there was no attempt by the player to seek advantage by taking the diuretic that was found in his system.
“A lot of mud will stick from this in that if you are found guilty of a doping offence a lot of people will say he has breached the code therefore he is a drug cheat,” Sutherland told reporters on Sunday.
“It is one thing to have banned substances in a sample that you give and it is another to be a drug cheat.
“The evidence that came through in the hearing confirmed my thoughts that Shane Warne is no drug cheat.
“Some people might believe that but they won’t understand the facts and the facts as I believed them coming into the hearing and the evidence in the hearing confirmed my thoughts,” he added.
Sutherland was also keen to stress he believes Warne has a future in Australian cricket.
“It is a 12-month ban but as far as I am concerned Shane is still a valued member of Australian cricket and the future of Australian cricket,” he said.
“It is a judgement for the selectors in the future but I would like to think that Shane could continue to be a part of Australian cricket.
“It is also a challenge for us as if Australian cricket wants Shane to be a part of that future we have to help him prepare for that future, but at the same time he has breached the policy and has been given a serious ban.
“We need to work through that and we have got time to do that, to work out what is appropriate.”
Sutherland said he was less than pleased with the build-up to Friday’s hearing.
“I wasn’t happy with the amount of people commenting on the issue itself leading into it,” he said.
“What was inappropriate was so-called experts in the field, experts on anti-doping, casting aspersions over the case and the penalty at a time when someone was under charge.
“The only people who knew the facts were the people who sat in the hearing and asked questions about what occurred.
“So for anyone to be making judgements prior to the hearing when they didn’t know the facts was totally out of order,” he added.
Warne has lodged an appeal but Sutherland is not expecting the leg spinner to be back at the World Cup and believes a replacement player needs to be organised.
“The selectors will obviously work through that and I’m not sure what stage we are up to but we obviously need to shut that down in the short term,” he said.
“Shane is not coming back and the process of an appeal will take time so we need to look ahead now.”—Reuters
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