LAHORE, June 5: While Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif on Thursday recorded a statement before the public prosecutor in Dubai in a case of contraband substance found on him, the chances of his immediate release vanished as the proceedings were deferred till Sunday.

“Though we are not going to disclose any information related to the lab reports, the PCB lawyer has informed us that the case has been deferred till Sunday,” PCB’s Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghami told media here on Thursday.

PCB Chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf later told Dawn the deferment till Sunday had come about because some reports of the lab tests were yet to be received. “I have received information from one of my key officials in Dubai and according to him some more reports of lab tests are being awaited,” he said.

The chairman said obviously the PCB would desire Asif’s honourable acquittal from the case but the Board and the entire nation had to respect Dubai’s laws.

Lanky pacer Asif, who has protested his innocence in the case, was detained at Dubai airport on Sunday while returning home after featuring in the Indian Premier League. Asif claimed that the substance found in his wallet was a medicinal drug which he has been taking on the advice of a hakim (herbal medicine expert).

The prosecutor, however, sent the substance to a lab and the reports apparently were received on Thursday but were not made public.

Naghmi, however, avoided to share the information of the report with the press and said: “The board had received medical reports of Asif but at the moment we can’t disclose its detail. When I talked to Asif earlier, he said that he has been using herbal medicines and sometimes such medicines contain banned substances.

“Our first priority is to get him released and all other things are unimportant at this stage. We respect the laws of Dubai and we expect the truth will come out and justice will be done,” he said.

Though Mr Naghmi dispelled the impression that efforts were launched at the government level to sort out the matter, sources confirmed that top level contacts had been made with the Dubai authorities but they refused to budge.

Some sources also said that PCB was expecting Asif’s deportation from Dubai, instead of imprisonment, which may be for four years in case he is found guilty.

The PCB had strictly advised all the cricketers two years ago not to use any medicines without the advice of the board’s doctors but Asif has apparently not paid much heed to it.

The PCB issued the instructions after both Asif and Shoaib Akhtar had tested positive in 2006 ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy in India. Shoaib had pleaded his case that he had been using herbal medicines and was not aware about its ingredients.

Though both had been banned for two-years by PCB’s anti-doping commission, an appellate tribunal later acquitted them on technical grounds.

Agencies add: Earlier, media reports in Dubai claimed that tests at the Dubai General Department of Forensic Science have proved that the substance recovered from Asif was hashish but the authorities may not refer the case to court and deport the player.

“The Dubai Attorney General is expected to sign administrative deportation orders, thereby ensuring that the case is not referred to the Dubai Courts,” Khaleej Times quoted its sources in the police and attorney general office as saying.

Chief prosecutor Mohammed Rustom, meanwhile, made it clear that he would go by the forensic reports. “We will proceed according to reports of the tests from the Dubai General Department of Forensic Science,” he said.