Akhtar and Asif escape sanctions

[King]

Pakistan fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif look set to escape any further doping sanctions after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said it was unable to hear their case. More... Akhtar and Asif escape sanctions July 02, 2007 Pakistan fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif look set to escape any further doping sanctions after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said it was unable to hear their case. In a statement released today, CAS said it was forced to dismiss an appeal brought by the World Anti-Doping Agency since the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) does not recognise the court in its regulations. Shoaib and Asif were handed two-year and one-year bans in November 2006 by the PCB's Anti-Doping Commission after testing positive for the banned steroid nandrolone, but the punishment was controversially lifted one month later by the board's Anti-Doping Appeals Committee. Announcing its decision "with considerable regret", CAS said its rules "require that a direct reference to the CAS be contained in the statutes or regulations of the body whose decision is being appealed." Reuters

[King]

There goes it. Now anyone can get away taking drugs as long as the board stands by them. The stupid ICC is dumb enough not to do drug test periodically but only does in the ICC organized events.

[Dhondy]

Devastating news for cricket. The sport is now reduced to a charade.

[yoda]

The reasoning given by the CAS sounds weird.

[THX_1138]

I think at the end of the day this is for the better. I absolutely love how the west proves it superiority over the fundamentalist states of the east and middle east by adhering rigidly to a set of laws and regulations. CAS could have easily gone the other way and agreed with WADA and ostracized these two cheats but it adhered to its laws and ruled that since Pakistan does not recognize the jurisdiction of WADA, Pakistan cannot be forced to comply to its ruling. but let me tell you guys something. an outlaw who gets away with a major crime with complete and absolute impunity, is bound to offend again... and this time the world will be prepared for him/her. besides, how many matches do you suppose akhtar has in him before his next injury/controversy/spat with the coach/captain. and we all have a good idea of how pathetic a bowler asif is in ODIs. Trust me, in the next year or so, there will be a total of 5 to 10 matches in which these two will play together.

[kablooee87]

This court case was used as a threat to the PCB in order to force them to exclude Asif and Shoaib from the World Cup squad. With that mission accomplished, there was no need to keep the court case going, as they had no jurisdiction in the first place. If people want to say that they should have missed more games, that's fair, there's definitely an argument for that. But saying they got off scott free isn't. They didn't get off scott free. They were effectively banned from the world cup and Pakistan paid for that dearly.

[MundaPakistani]

This court case was used as a threat to the PCB in order to force them to exclude Asif and Shoaib from the World Cup squad. With that mission accomplished, there was no need to keep the court case going, as they had no jurisdiction in the first place. If people want to say that they should have missed more games, that's fair, there's definitely an argument for that. But saying they got off scott free isn't. They didn't get off scott free. They were effectively banned from the world cup and Pakistan paid for that dearly.

they also missed the CT and the series against the Windies but what strange reasoning by the CAS...they took 7 months and then came up with something as lame as this.

[Dhondy]

This court case was used as a threat to the PCB in order to force them to exclude Asif and Shoaib from the World Cup squad. With that mission accomplished, there was no need to keep the court case going, as they had no jurisdiction in the first place. If people want to say that they should have missed more games, that's fair, there's definitely an argument for that. But saying they got off scott free isn't. They didn't get off scott free. They were effectively banned from the world cup and Pakistan paid for that dearly.

Nice argument. The fact is though that the PCB pulled the two out from the WC on the pretext of injury, when it was clear to just about everybody apart from those with the intelligence of a orange tailed lemur that these two were being protected from dope tests that they would have been inevitably subjected to at the WC. Not only that, they were exempted from the mandatory dope tests that the PCB subjected the other players to just before the tournament. Same reasons. How you have the gall to come in here and mouth inanities like "they were banned from the world cup", I'll never know. And don't even get me started on the moral bankruptcy of you lot in failing to condemn blatant dope cheating while flaunting the benefits of theology and do-goodism at every conceivable opportunity. If only you had the decency, the sense, to see what the rest of the world feels on this, you would have never resorted to such laughable arguments.

[Dhondy]

And just to round it up, if it isn't already painfully obvious to all except orange tailed lemurs, if they were innocent of doping, they would have played in the world cup with their heads held high. Hell nor high water could have kept an honest man out. But they weren't, were they, those guilty as hell dope cheats?

[kumble_rocks]

Nice argument. The fact is though that the PCB pulled the two out from the WC on the pretext of injury, when it was clear to just about everybody apart from those with the intelligence of a orange tailed lemur that these two were being protected from dope tests that they would have been inevitably subjected to at the WC. Not only that, they were exempted from the mandatory dope tests that the PCB subjected the other players to just before the tournament. Same reasons. How you have the gall to come in here and mouth inanities like "they were banned from the world cup", I'll never know. And don't even get me started on the moral bankruptcy of you lot in failing to condemn blatant dope cheating while flaunting the benefits of theology and do-goodism at every conceivable opportunity. If only you had the decency, the sense, to see what the rest of the world feels on this, you would have never resorted to such laughable arguments.

Mate, please don't post in PakPassion anymore. Boy , they will be pissed after reading this.:regular_smile:

[MundaPakistani]

Nice argument. The fact is though that the PCB pulled the two out from the WC on the pretext of injury, when it was clear to just about everybody apart from those with the intelligence of a orange tailed lemur that these two were being protected from dope tests that they would have been inevitably subjected to at the WC. Not only that, they were exempted from the mandatory dope tests that the PCB subjected the other players to just before the tournament. Same reasons. How you have the gall to come in here and mouth inanities like "they were banned from the world cup", I'll never know. And don't even get me get started on the moral bankruptcy of you lot in failing to condemn blatant dope cheating while flaunting the benefits of theology and do-goodism at every conceivable opportunity. If only you had the decency, the sense, to see what the rest of the world feels on this, you would have never resorted to such laughable arguments.

Wait so you don't consider being "forced out" of the biggest event in the game plus 2 other major tourneys a punishment?? At the end of the day Shoaib and Asif have joined a long list of athletes which include some famous names like Linford Christie, Mark Richardson, Dougie Walker, Greg Rudeski,Coria etc who tested positive for nandrolone and later had to be aquitted. Most of these atheltes had a higher nandrolone level than both Shoiab and Asif so with so much controversy surronding this drug i hope they do an extensive study before the career of another athelete is unfairly tainted.

[Dhondy]

Wait so you don't consider being "forced out" of the biggest event in the game plus 2 other major tourneys a punishment?? At the end of the day Shoaib and Asif have joined a long list of athletes which include some famous names like Linford Christie, Mark Richardson, Dougie Walker, Greg Rudeski,Coria etc who tested positive for nandrolone and later had to be aquitted. Most of these atheltes had a higher nandrolone level than both Shoiab and Asif so with so much controversy surronding this drug i hope they do an extensive study before the career of another athelete is unfairly tainted.

Yet again, those puerile arguments! Who forced them out? They were pulled out as "injured", remember, by your own board, because their precious dope cheats would have been collared at the world cup! What are you going on about? And almost every example you gave is fallacious. Linford Christie and Dougie Walker served their punishments. In Dougie's case, the ban was waived by the the British Athletic Federation on grounds of inadvertent usage (much as it was for Shoaib and Asif), but the International Amateur Athletic Association overturned the waiver and reinforced the ban. Christie didn't even contest his dope charge. In the case of Rusedski and 14 other tennis players, the banned steroid was present in drinks supplied to the players by the International Lawn Tennis Association itself. They didn't have much choice but to exonerate, did they?

[beetle]

The Pakistani team will have to live with the tag of Dopers and they have only their board and these two druggies to blame for. It is really shocking to see the pakistani fans supporting this.It is truely sick! But not a complete surprise .PP has been known to support much worse!

[dial_100]

Yep... No point supporting them. No punishment is enough. They shouldn't play for Pk anymore. Nobody is scared of them so it doesn't matter but we need to keep the moral of the game very high. Match fixers, dopers, and cheaters all should be sent home. Whatever country they belonged to.

[theguyinallblue]

in a way..its good that the case was not heard...so officially a neutral body did not give a clean chit to these drug offenders... now they can not give the example of Warne as well... asif and shoaib have got a permanent blemish on their respective careers.. there will always be an * against their names...

[The Outsider]

And just to round it up, if it isn't already painfully obvious to all except orange tailed lemurs, if they were innocent of doping, they would have played in the world cup with their heads held high.

WTF do you have against orange tailed lemurs?:angry_smile:

[CC1981]

At the end of the day Shoaib and Asif have joined a long list of athletes which include some famous names like Linford Christie, Mark Richardson, Dougie Walker, Greg Rudeski,Coria etc who tested positive for nandrolone and later had to be aquitted. Most of these atheltes had a higher nandrolone level than both Shoiab and Asif so with so much controversy surronding this drug i hope they do an extensive study before the career of another athelete is unfairly tainted.

Track & Field is a tainted sport- cricket wasnt until Warney episode. Atleast Warney was banned for a year- Actor and Asif got off with no ban and no official sanctioning on their records. Your board withdrawing you because you are a cheat does NOT equate to being banned or punished for cheating. They were merely protecting Asif & Akhtar for ICC does drug testing on their events and skipping those events preserved the careers of these two cheats. Asif and Akhtar should be banned for atleast a year if not more. If Warne can be banned for a year for the mere detection of a MASKING agent (note: Warne was guilty of taking masking agents, he wasnt proven to've taken performance enhancing drugs), it stands to reason that Akhtar & Asif should've been banned for atleast the duration of a year, if not longer for categoric failure of the naldrolone test.

[CC1981]

WTF do you have against orange tailed lemurs?:angry_smile:

The orange tail, obviously ! :haha:

[kablooee87]

Nice argument. The fact is though that the PCB pulled the two out from the WC on the pretext of injury, when it was clear to just about everybody apart from those with the intelligence of a orange tailed lemur that these two were being protected from dope tests that they would have been inevitably subjected to at the WC. Not only that, they were exempted from the mandatory dope tests that the PCB subjected the other players to just before the tournament. Same reasons. How you have the gall to come in here and mouth inanities like "they were banned from the world cup", I'll never know. And don't even get me started on the moral bankruptcy of you lot in failing to condemn blatant dope cheating while flaunting the benefits of theology and do-goodism at every conceivable opportunity. If only you had the decency, the sense, to see what the rest of the world feels on this, you would have never resorted to such laughable arguments.

You just said it yourself. Any 'orange tailed lemur' knew exactly why the PCB kept them out of the World Cup side. If any ban was to come, it would have been from the PCB, no? Isn't that an effective ban? Failing to condemn the players? When did that happen? Alright, I can understand you don't follow me around so you might not have read me doing so. So let me do it here. Shaoib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif committed reprehensible acts and I condemn them for it. Whether it was blatant cheating or ignorance is irrelevant. The saga brought great embarrasment to Pakistan cricket and Pakistan itself. There, are you happy now? Now, let me restate my original point. The acts that these two committed were punishable by the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Pakistan Cricket Board only. Officially, the PCB took the position of exonerating these two players but effectively they were excluded from the Pakistan squad. Oh and by the way, thanks for the religious jab, I guess my lot need to learn our place.

[MundaPakistani]

Yet again, those puerile arguments! Who forced them out? They were pulled out as "injured", remember, by your own board, because their precious dope cheats would have been collared at the world cup! What are you going on about? And almost every example you gave is fallacious. Linford Christie and Dougie Walker served their punishments. In Dougie's case, the ban was waived by the the British Athletic Federation on grounds of inadvertent usage (much as it was for Shoaib and Asif), but the International Amateur Athletic Association overturned the waiver and reinforced the ban. Christie didn't even contest his dope charge. In the case of Rusedski and 14 other tennis players, the banned steroid was present in drinks supplied to the players by the International Lawn Tennis Association itself. They didn't have much choice but to exonerate, did they?

You can't have it both ways...it seems as if on one hand you are trying to give the impression that the injuries were genuine and don't think that missing the world cup should be considered as a punishment yet on the other hand you want to bash the board for concealing the real reason for their absence in the WC. In this particular case the tests were private and just like the British Athletic Federation the PCB( the independent commission to be exact) acquitted the players on any wrong doing and since the tests were PRIVATELY conducted then unlike the IAAA the ICC had no right to intervene. There seems to be a "rash" of athletes that are being tested positive for the same drug and a lot of them are being acquitted for different reasons and even the trainers themselves aren't exactly sure of what to give to the athletes so quite clearly there is something seriously wrong(as was proven by the study conducted in the University of Aberdeen). So do i think Asif and Shoiab were genuinely guilty? Yes they might have been negligent and their negligence cost us the world cup how ever i would like an extensive study on the all athletes tested positive for this drug and i am also not satisfied with the drug education provided to the cricketers. Here is what Tim May said after this incident "Despite several requests ICC has not been able to confirm that all countries have conducted satisfactory education of players with regard to ICC anti-doping policy that is operable at the 2006 Champions Trophy...Additionally, the ICC has refused to supply FICA details of five Full Member countries education programs - this includes Pakistan. Such non-disclosure only raises suspicion levels as to the effectiveness of education extended to players within those countries and is an unnecessary hurdle in FICA's genuine attempts to ensure all players throughout the world are given adequate education of such policies.†There was no point Malcolm Speed whining after the event as he did, he should have ensured that the ICC had got its house in order before the episode occurred. And the PCB were just as culpable. According to both tribunals, PCB's drugs education policy seemed virtually non-existent or at least non-effective.