PCB denies that Shoaib and Asif fail dope test again

The Pakistan Cricket Board has denied rumours that Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have tested positive yet again in a dope test conducted secretly by the board ahead of the World Cup in the Caribbean beginning in March.

"These reports are incorrect and rubbish. We have not conducted any secret tests on the players. We have already announced that we are conducting a screening for all the players announced for the World Cup, plus five reserves on the 16th of February when the team returns from South Africa," Salim Altaf, the PCB's director of cricket, told Cricinfo.

Both Shoaib and Asif had tested positive for nandrolone after dope tests conducted internally by the PCB at the end of last September. They were pulled out of Pakistan's squad for the Champions Trophy on October 16, the day before their opening game. A three-man tribunal appointed by the PCB then found them guilty and Shoaib was banned from cricket for two years and Asif for one.

They were, however, acquitted by another tribunal which reviewed their appeals. The tribunal ruled that both players were able to prove 'exceptional circumstances', in that neither was fully aware of the substances they were taking. The World Anti-Doping Body has challenged the appeals committee's decision to let off the players and the case is now at the Court of Arbitration for Sports.

On Tuesday afternoon the PCB, after prolonged deliberations, had announced the 15-man squad for the World Cup and both Shoaib and Asif were included.