ISLAMABAD, Nov 23: Pakistan's Asian Games medal hopes were badly hit when two of their leading boxers were banned for six months after testing positive for cannabis, officials said Thursday.

Meherullah Lassi, who won a gold medal in the 2002 Asian Games at Busan, South Korea, and Faisal Kareem tested positive during the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Colombo, Sri Lanka in August this year.

They appeared before a disciplinary committee of the SAF Games in Colombo on Wednesday. Both were found guilty of using the banned drug cannabis for enhanced performances during the Games where both won gold medals.

“The Pakistan Sports Board has informed us that the two boxers have been banned for six months, which is bad news for us,” Pakistan Boxing Federation spokesman Shakeel Durani told AFP.

“But their absence will definitely hit our chances in the Doha Asian Games next month,” he added.

“We had kept them in the Asian Games squad in the hope that they would be cleared but now they have been banned we will replace them with other boxers.”The 26-year-old Lassi also won a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne this year.The SAF Games committee said their gold medals have been withdrawn. This was Lassi's second offense after he escaped punishment following a failed test in the SAF Games in Islamabad in 2004.—AFP