Asif caught with 'illegal substance' in Dubai

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-4  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

PAKISTANI fast bowler Mohammed Asif has been detained at Dubai airport for allegedly carrying an illegal substance, officials confirmed yesterday.

Pakistan Cricket Board manager of human resources Nadim Akram said charges have not been laid against the 25-year-old national team player, but the board has hired a lawyer for him.

Akram is in Dubai to secure Asif's release.

Asif was detained at the airport en route to Pakistan from the Indian Premier League 20/20 tournament after authorities found an "illegal substance" in his wallet, Akram said, without identifying the substance.

An official with the Dubai Public Prosecutions Office confirmed Asif was detained on suspicion of carrying an illegal substance.

The Pakistani speedster was being held at the airport's detention center, he said.

The substance is being tested, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Akram told Pakistan's Dawn News TV that Asif said he had been given herbal medicine for an elbow injury he suffered four or five months ago and had forgotten he was still carrying it.

He said Asif was scheduled to meet the public prosecutor in Dubai yesterday and it was premature to say whether he could face trial.

"We are hopeful that the entire matter is either a mistake or a wholly harmless and innocent issue," PCB spokesman Shafqat Naghmi told reporters in Lahore. "We still consider him innocent."

"God willing, Mohammed Asif will return home soon," he said.

Asif is one of Pakistan's most promising fast bowlers. He has claimed 51 wickets in 11 test matches.

Asif and fellow speedster Shoaib Akhtar tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone in 2006. The PCB initially banned the players for one and two years respectively, but the bans were overturned on appeal.