Shoaib and Asif win appeal

[greg]

Crazy.It has to be overturned by ICC as letting them off totally for cheating is ridiculous.What sort of message does this send out.

[Notts Exile]

I assume that each team in their World Cup Group will refuse to play against a Pakistan team containing either Asif or Shoaib?

[Maranello]

Just like they stopped playing an Australian team containing Warne and Mark Waugh after they admitted taking money from bookies? Or like they stopped playing England who were playing Stewart?

LOL.

We don't know the facts as yet, so why gallop to conclusions? Sheesh. The ill-informed biases of some people never cease to amaze me.

Here's Kamran Abbasi's take on the matter - can't say I agree with his "justice has been done, all is rosy" outlook - it clearly isn't. The hearing and the appeal now both leave a lot to be desired, and Pakistan cricket will probably face the repurcussions for a while yet.

[Maranello]

Here's an excerpt from the Cricinfo story:

A 30-page plus judgement released by the committee detailed the reasons for their decision. As well as taking into account the fact that existing medical evidence surrounding nandrolone (the substance for which both were tested positive) remains questionable, the punishment handed out by the previous committee were also called into question. The ruling also cited 'exceptional circumstances' for both players, that neither was fully aware of the substances they were taking. "It is plainly evident that neither Shoaib Akhtar nor Mohammad Asif were ever warned or cautioned against taking supplements," the judgement read. "Hence, this committee is of the considered view that both players have successfully established that they held an honest and reasonable belief that the supplements ingested by them did not contain any prohibited substances."

Doesn't really add up, in my view. All this should have been addressed in the initial hearing - if it was adequately addressed, the appeal surely cannot revisit it now. If it was not addressed, we will have to accept that there were some serious technical flaws with the initial hearing, which I find unlikely.

I would hope and expect that the judgement goes into much more detail on how the "existing medical evidence surrounding nandrolone" is "questionable". Without reading the full judgement, its difficult to comment, but that to me would seem to be the only logical basis for overturning the ban, and a weak one at that.

[Irish Left Armer]

I'm shocked by this. I thought the way the PCB or whoever had handled the cases was very good and the bans given out were fair.

But this is almost unbelievable, from the long statement Zainub linked to about the facts of the case it seemed pretty clear to me that the bans were deserved, especially in the case of Shoaib and I see little reason why they can have been overturned.

[Holden]

Pakistan fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have had their bans for doping overturned. (link)

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by Maranello

the "existing medical evidence surrounding nandrolone" is "questionable".

Maybe they mean something like this:

Originally Posted by Cricinfo

The testing procedures have not been without controversy though. Athletes who have been caught have often cited the use of Creatine and the consumption of protein shakes as the reason for positive tests. An Aberdeen University study suggests that they may have a point. According to that, consumption of dietary supplements in conjunction with heavy physical training can result in the athlete returning a positive test for Nandrolone. As with many drugs, including THG that was involved in the infamous BALCO case, our knowledge is far from comprehensive. And as long as that remains the case, the protestations of innocence from those caught may just have a ring of truth to them.

hmm... that may as well be, but surely this should have addressed at the initial hearing!?

[Milo]

SURPRISE, SURPRISE. Did anyone really actually expect this not to happen?

[greg]

Originally Posted by Milo

SURPRISE, SURPRISE. Did anyone really actually expect this not to happen?

As predictable as an England batting collapse.

[Golden Boy James]

I am only guessing but surely the name Greg Rusedski would have been raised by lawyers for Akhtar and Asif. This is probably another example of the creeping americanisation of society: i.e don't accept responsibility for your actions but find someone else who "made" you do it. There are no shortage of lawyers that will argue that line for you. Unfortunately there are also people further up the line who will swallow this garbage and let drug takers off or reduce their sentences.