September 21, 2008	Sunday	Ramazan 20, 1429

KARACHI, Sept 20: The lawyer for suspended Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif has asked for his appeal against a positive doping test to be set for the earliest possible date.

Asif tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone during a domestic Twenty20 competition in India and was immediately suspended by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) when the positive test was announced in July. He denied taking any banned substances. His ‘B’ sample also tested positive.

Asif’s lawyer Shahid Karim said last month when the results for the ‘B’ sample were announced they would appeal, though admitted on Saturday he was frustrated in the delay in getting a hearing.

“This long delay in giving a date is strange,” Karim said. “Because initially they were pushing for a quick hearing. Now they are saying ‘wait we will get back (to you)’.”

Karim added that he had been given an initial date of Aug 30 for the appeal, though he had asked for a delay until Sept 15 to prepare.

That date had since passed and he had yet to receive notification of another possible hearing date.

“We had asked them to keep Sept 15 as a new date for hearing now they say ‘we will let you know when it is possible’,” Karim added.

Asif, who was detained in Dubai for 19 days in June after airport authorities found a small quantity of an illegal drug on him, had tested positive for nandrolone in 2006. He was banned by the PCB for two years then later cleared by the board’s anti-doping appeals committee.—Reuters