LAHORE, Nov 18: Former Test cricketer Hasib Ahsan, a member of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appeals committee to review doping charges on fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, said on Saturday that it was not mandatory for PCB to carry out such tests in the first place and the board had not fulfilled the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) regulations during the testing procedures.

“There are many pre-requisites in WADA regulations and those have not been fulfilled by the PCB,” said Hasib in an exclusive interview with Voice of America (VOA) on Saturday. “If the defense counsels of Shoaib and Asif effectively point out the loopholes in dope tests, the appeal committee will have to consider and accept their pleadings.”

Hasib, a former chief selector, also made a startling disclosure when he said that since PCB was not a signatory to International Cricket Council or WADA’s doping code, it was under no binding or obligation to conduct such tests.

Sources close to PCB, while endorsing Hasib’s views, said the board was, apparently, in hot soup since the appeals committee had found out gross violations of WADA and ICC Doping Code during the dope tests conducted on Pakistani cricketers which eventually led to banning of pacers Shoaib and Asif by the PCB Anti-doping Tribunal.

According to the sources, PCB’s Dr Sohail Salim had not conducted the dope tests as per WADA or ICC Doping Code, thus violating the fundamental ‘Doping Code Protocols’ that may render the whole testing procedures invalid.

The study of the procedure reveals that the dope tests should be conducted within one hour of issuing the suspect athlete a written notification to present himself at the venue of inquiry. Dr Sohail only informed Shoaib and Asif of their notice on telephone after which it took Shoaib a good five days to appear for the test while Asif managed to appear for his test after five hours of the Sohail’s phone call.

The PCB’s blunders continued when both players’ names were released to the media in complete violation of the ICC and PCB Anti Doping Code.—Agencies