Shoaib and Asif test postive, dope scandal rocks Champions Trophy

Jaipur, Oct 16 (UNI) Cricket took the backstage and the Champions Trophy was today shaken to its core as dope scandal reared its ugly head with two leading Pakistan bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif, testing positive just a day before the team's crucial match against Sri Lanka here tomorrow.

Shoaib and Asif tested positive for banned substance nandrolon during an internal dope test carried out by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Both the pacers have been recalled to Pakistan and will miss the Champions Trophy. Mohammad Sami and Yasir Arafat are likely to be the named replacements.

PCB's Director Cricket Operations Saleem Altaf asserted here that, as signatories to the ICC's Anti-Doping Policy (ADP), the board had carried out a routine test on a group of 19 players at the end of September.

However, it is learnt that the tests were done at the behest of coach Bob Woolmer. The samples were sent to the International Olympic Committee (IOC)-accredited World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) laboratory in Malaysia for analysis.

Two samples - of Asif and Shoaib - were found positive and the results were conveyed to the PCB.

The PCB has asked for the samples concerned to be tested again and the results are expected tomorrow. Shoaib and Asif, however, have been asked to return home.

The PCB's decision to pull out the players from the tournament is in a way a clever ploy to pre-empt the embarrassment of the ICC announcing the dope results during the tournament, which would have led to major penalties being imposed on them.

The PCB has informed the ICC of the situation and its decision to call back the players.

The PCB also set up a drugs tribunal to investigate the matter.

The official said, ''We have set up a drugs tribunal, consisting of lawyers, doctors and PCB officials to fully investigate this case.

They will look at the lab reports and also hear from the players before deciding on a suitable punishment.'' Avoiding any sort of ban appears, for the moment, inconceivable.

The incidents remind of Shane Warne's sensational ouster from the 2003 World Cup. Warne was sent home from the tournament on the morning of Australia's opening game against Pakistan after testing positive for a diuretic. He was banned from all cricket for a year.

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