Tuesday, June 02, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif has failed to meet a deadline to prove he wasn’t deported from the United Arab Emirates last year for possessing a small amount of opium.
The 26-year-old Asif had previously told a Pakistan Cricket Board inquiry headed by Wasim Bari that he left on his own accord after being detained for 19 days in Dubai last June when 0.24 grams of opium were found in his wallet at the airport.
However, Bari said Asif had failed to provide documents by a June1 deadline to prove he wasn’t deported.“Asif appeared before the committee today but could not give us any proof against deportation,” Bari told The Associated Press on Monday. “Now, we are going to give our recommendations to the Pakistan Cricket Board.”
If Asif was deported, he would be unable to ever return to the UAE, where Pakistan is scheduled to play many of its home matches in the wake of security fears after the Lahore terror attack in March.
Bari refused to elaborate on what possible penalty Asif could face.Asif was banned for a year by the Indian Premier League in September for testing positive for the steroid nandrolone during the tournament.
The PCB had initially planned to consider Asif for national selection once his ban is over, but later formed a committee to investigate his UAE detention. In 2006, Asif was suspended for a year by the PCB after testing positive for nandrolone, but the ban was overturned on appeal. The fast bowler has taken 51 wickets from 11 Tests, and claimed 36 dismissals from 31 One-day Internationals.
