PCB completes investigation in Asif case

The committee set up by PCB to look into Mohammad Asif's detention at Dubai airport from June 1-19 for alleged possession of an illegal substance has completed its investigation.

The committee comprising PCB officials Shaqfat Naghmi [chief operating officer], Zakir Khan [director - cricket operations], and Nadeem Akram [director - human resources] had been asked to acquire all the documents related to the case, establish facts, and after a complete investigation, submit a report to Nasim Ashraf, the outgoing PCB chairman, which would be sent to the ICC as well.

"We have completed our work and now it's up to the new chairman to decide on our recommendations," Naghmi told AP on Friday.

Naghmi did not divulge the details regarding the findings of the investigating committee."We have given some recommendations in our findings and only the chairman has the authority to take a decision,'' he said. With PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf having stepped down from his position on August 18, the new chairman is expected to be named only after Pakistan's presidential elections on September 6.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has, in the meantime, agreed to Mohammad Asif's request to postpone the preliminary hearing for testing positive for nandrolone. The hearing was originally scheduled for Saturday.

"We had sent them an e-mail requesting for the hearing to be later in mid-September as we are still waiting for some more documentation on the case regarding the procedures adopted to conduct the dope tests on Asif in the IPL," Asif's lawyer, Shahid Karim, told PTI. "We have today got a reply from them saying the hearing will not be held on August 30 and they will inform us of a date later on."

Asif was suspended by the PCB from all forms of the game pending the result of the IPL inquiry. He previously tested positive for nandrolone just before the 2006 Champions Trophy in India. Though he was banned for one year by a PCB tribunal, the punishment was overturned a month later on appeal.