LAHORE, July 15: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has suspended dope-tainted fast bowler Mohammad Asif from playing any cricket until a final decision of his positive dope test case, which will be heard by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and not by the PCB.

“As sampling was done by the BCCI/IPL, therefore, the matter has been referred to the IPL Drug Tribunal comprising Dr Ravi Bapat, Sunil Gavaskar and Shirish Gupte,” said PCB Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghmi while reading out his statement before the press on Tuesday.

“The PCB suspends Mohammad Asif with immediate effect from participating in cricket including its organisation, administration and promotion conducted by or under the auspices of PCB, ICC or ICC members until a final decision, which includes appeal,” Naghmi said.

He added that Asif’s specimen was processed in Switzerland under the umbrella of Word Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The PCB is a WADA compliant and has a comprehensive anti-doping policy.

Naghmi said: “The PCB will attend the proceedings of the BCCI/IPL Drug Tribunal.”

Answering a volley of questions, Naghmi said that according to the laws, Asif would continue to receive perks and benefits of the central contract until final decision after which further action could be taken against him.

Asif would bear all expenditures of the case. However, if he succeeded in defending his case the PCB would pay him, he said.

The chief operation officer said the PCB’s lawyer in Dubai had also received the verdict of authorities about the other case in which the pacer was detained at the Dubai airport, allegedly carrying a banned substance in his wallet.

The Dubai authorities’ decision comprising 40 pages written in Arabic would be sent to the PCB after translation into English. After receiving it, the PCB would start an in-house inquiry against him.

When asked the PCB could have avoided the embarrassing situation had it conducted another dope test before recommending the names of its players for the IPL, Naghmi said that since the players were playing individually, it was not the board’s responsibility.

Former Governor of Punjab Shahid Hamid, who also headed the doping tribunal that banned pacers Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar in 2006 over an ugly doping row, said on Tuesday that Asif could not be banned for more than two years on technical grounds.

Speaking to Dawn, Hamid said that Asif was lucky to get away on the first offence.

“The PCB let Asif and Shoaib off the first time around and it is very sad that a very talented fast bowler has been embroiled in the same case once again,” said Shahid.

“Asif and Shoaib were let off on technical grounds then and if that first offence is disregarded because of that, Asif in my opinion cannot be banned for more than two years.”

Shahid blamed the PCB for the latest controversy in Pakistan cricket.

“Had the doping case been dealt in a better way in 2006 by the PCB, the current situation would not have arisen,” he added.

Meanwhile, Asif’s lawyer Shahid Karim said that his client had decided to seek a ‘B’ sample test.

The lawyer said the BCCI had violated WADA rules by announcing Asif’s name before the result of the ‘B’ sample test. He claimed the rules supported his case.

Agencies add: The BCCI rejected the contention that it had violated global body’s rules by prematurely naming Asif before his B sample test.

Ratnakar Shetty, chief administrator of BCCI, said the board had taken the right step by naming Asif.

The procedure is that once the report of a dope test is received, the player has to be identified and can be asked whether he will exercise the choice for his ‘B’ sample test and can be asked to be physically present when the sample was tested, he said.

“However, if the player is not named, how do we ask the player to give ‘B’ sample and to be physically present?” Shetty questioned.

Earlier in the day, WADA representative in Pakistan Danish Zaheer, who also heads the Pakistan Sports Medicine Association, said, “The announcement by the IPL is a clear violation of WADA regulations.”

He was of the view that the IPL had violated WADA code by prematurely disclosing Asif’s name.