CAS dismisses appeal against Asif & Akhtar by AFP

---

Player:

Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif

---

DateLine: 2nd July 2007

 

International sport's top court has dismissed an appeal by the World Anti Doping Agency over reprieves for Pakistani cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, saying it had no jurisdiction over the dispute.

 

The Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) panel said in a statement that it had reached the conclusion "with some considerable regret."

 

Akhtar and Asif tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone in internal tests conducted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last year, and were banned for two years and one year respectively in November 2006.

 

However, a month later, both were controversially reinstated by a Pakistani appellate committee, prompting WADA to appeal to CAS in Lausanne.

 

CAS, which set up a special panel first to examine Pakistani Cricket Board claims that it had no jurisdiction, found that the PCB does not provide a right of appeal to the international sports court.

 

Furthermore, the International Cricket Council's (ICC) code did not contain any rules that obliged the Pakistani board to allow appeals to CAS, it added.

 

Akhtar and Asif were both removed from their country's squad for the Cricket World Cup in March and April. The Pakistani board insisted they had missed the event because of injuries.

 

However, ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said at the beginning of the tournament in Caribbean in March that the duo had escaped a drugs test by not being selected for the World Cup.

 

The Pakistan Board had announced beforehand that 11 of its 15-man squad and seven reserves had passed domestic, pre-World Cup dope tests, but Akhtar and Asif were left out of the testing.

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)