October 12, 2008	Sunday	Shawwal 12, 1429

MUMBAI, Oct 11: A tribunal in India has adjourned the hearing into doping allegations involving Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Asif until November, his lawyer said on Saturday.

Asif, 25, tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone during the Indian Premier League (IPL) competition held in April-June this year and has since been suspended from all forms of cricket.

“It was a preliminary hearing,” Asif’s lawyer Shahid Karim told reporters. “The tribunal has adjourned the hearing to four weeks from now. They are yet to fix a date.”

The tribunal comprised former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Bapat, the former vice chancellor of India’s Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, and lawyer Shirish Gupte.

Gupte said the tribunal heard objections raised by Karim during the day and will now begin its probe next month.

“The whole day was spent on interim objections raised by Asif’s lawyer about the maintainability of the case,” Gupte said.

“The lawyer argued that IPL does not have the right to prosecute Asif as there is a separate anti-dope institution to hear such cases.

“So we reserved passing an order on the case. The actual recording of witnesses and other evidence will begin in November,” he said.

Asif, who was mobbed by reporters after he emerged from the hearing, refused to make any comment.

He faces a possible two-year ban from international cricket since the IPL is sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and any ban would automatically be adopted by the Pakistan Cricket Board as well.

The fast bowler also tested positive for nandrolone in 2006, along with fellow paceman Shoaib Akhtar. He was banned for one year and Akhtar for two, but the bans were overturned on appeal.

Asif further faces a possible ban or fine from the Pakistan Cricket Board after he was detained in Dubai, while returning from the IPL, on charges of possessing an illegal drug.

He was held for 19 days before police deported him.—AFP