ISLAMABAD, Feb 14: Pakistan on Wednesday banned three bodybuilders for two years after they failed dope tests ahead of last year's Asian Games in Qatar, an official said.

“As per the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules, we have imposed two-year bans on bodybuilders Atif Anwar, Shoaib Zahoor Ahmed and Khalid Ali after they failed dope tests ahead of the Asian Games last year,” Pakistan Bodybuilding Federation (PBF) president Mohammad Yahya told reporters.

The trio was pulled out of the Games barely three days before they started on December 1 in Doha, after they tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol.

The bodybuilders would be barred from featuring in any international or national event, but could appeal against the ban, said Yahya.

Pakistan has seen a number of recent doping cases, including the high-profile banning of its cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. The fast bowling pair tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone in October last year.

Pakistan also had to ban two of its potential medal winning boxers — Meherullah Lassi and Faisal Karim — for life after both failed tests for cannabis. Both were banned before the Asiad last year. —AFP