LAHORE, 23 October 2006 — Dr. Waqar Ahmed, member of the PCB Anti-Doping Tribunal, in an exclusive interview to Voice of America (VOA) made the startling disclosure that positive dope tested fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif can be forgiven if they proved that the banned substance Nandrolon went into their bodies accidentally. When asked that what could be the punishment for Shaoib and Asif, Ahmed told VOA “ Straight away there is no factor of punishment but it has to be checked whether this banned substance came into their body by accident or not” Ahmed further said “ The tribunal, by examining the evidence and statements produced by Shoaib and Asif, has to judge and determine if the banned substance did in fact go into their bodies by accident.
If they are convinced that it all happened innocently by accident and not by negligence, then Shoaib and Asif can be evicted and forgiven, but this would be the decision of the whole tribunal and not a single person.”
“All over the world the athletes do take supplements/herbals to restore their energy and sometimes these supplements contain the banned substance that athletes take unknowingly, that is how athletes take such substance ignorantly” Dr. Waqar elaborated.
On the other hand, Dr. Danish Zaheer, vice president of the Asian Federation of the Sports Medicine and himself a doping expert told VOA that the global anti- doping agency WADA does not buy this version of accidental use of the banned performance enhancing drugs.
“This would make a mockery of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA)’s Doping Code if every athlete after testing positive claimed that he used the substance by accident.
It is the responsibility of the athlete to get the herbal supplement tested from the WADA accredited lab before using any herbal supplement to ensure it did not have banned substance and if he did not do so then the athlete is responsible for testing positive”, Dr. Danish said. He also raised the point that a member of the PCB tribunal Dr.Waqar publicly saying that Shoaib and Asif can be forgiven, puts a big question mark on the credibility and integrity of the tribunal that apparently leads one to suggest that it has already made up its mind to let the players of the hook that could result in further embarrassment for PCB and Pakistan. Dr. Danish said WADA may intervene if the tribunal failed to properly conduct that the proceedings. The next date for hearing is set for Oct. 26. Interestingly Dr. Waqar is scheduled to attend a doping in Colombo on Oct. 27 regarding boxers Mehrullah and Faisal Karim.
