PCB introduces dope testing during Faysal Bank T-20 – Cricket News Update
As per World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) regulations, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Cricket Board will be conducting dope tests on players participating in the ongoing Faysal Bank T-20 tournament, which kicked off in Lahore today on December 1.
“The PCB is introducing in-competition dope testing during the Twenty20 tournament in order to strive for drug-free sports and to protect the basic framework for the athletes,” said a statement by the board. “Cricketers from all the regional teams participating
in the Twenty20 championship will randomly be picked for dope testing.
“These tests will be conducted by WADA-accredited independent doping control officers throughout the competition.”
The tournament, due to be played from December 1 to 9 at various venues in Lahore, features numerous regional teams, and the PCB went on the reveal that roughly 500 first-class cricketers had already been educated on the subject of doping. This education
included a series of lectures on the subject, in addition to which the board also provided the players a guide in Urdu, a CD to supplement the lectures, and list of banned drugs.
Drugs scandals in the sport during recent times can be traced back to 2003, when Australian spin bowler http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shane-Keith-Warne-c89672 was banned for a year, for using a diuretic. Since then, several cases of players using banned performance-enhancing substances have come
to light.
Pakistan has faced its share of doping scandals in the past, the most well-publicised being the bans imposed on pacers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Asif-c1993 in October 2006, when both players tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone, banned for its
performance-enhancing qualities.
Akhtar was banned for two years, while Asif was handed a one year ban, after both were found guilty by a three-man drugs tribunal put together by the PCB. Later, the bans were overturned on appeal and both were acquitted in December by a review committee.
However, the PCB will be aiming to avoid any such unpleasant controversies, and the Pakistani first-class cricketers participating in the domestic T20 tournament will be subject to random dope testing. The group stages of the competition will last from December
1 to 7, after which two semi-finals will be played, on December 8, at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, followed by the tournament final at the same venue on the 9th.
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