Pakistanis handed bans

Pakistan speedsters Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have been banned from cricket after testing positive for barred substance nandrolene.

Shoaib, 31, will sit out of international and domestic cricket for two-years, while Asif, eight years his junior, has been banned for 12 months.

As a result of testing positive to steroid use before this year's Champions Trophy, Shoaib and Asif were sent home by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Despite being offered the option of having their B samples tested, the pair waived the right.

A subsequent investigation by the PCB failed to exonerate either of the international cricket stars.

"After a thorough inquiry we feel they failed to prove their innocence," tribunal chairman Shahid Hamid told the BBC.

"The process of doping was investigated carefully. We made sure the tests were conducted properly, samples reached the laboratory in Malaysia safely and there was no error in testing in the laboratory.

"Both the players were satisfied and accepted the tests and gave their point of view but after a thorough inquiry and bound by the Wada (World Anti-Doping Agency) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) we reached the decision."

Hamid also pointed out that the panel had been lenient on Asif because he possessed little knowledge about performance-enhancing drugs.

"Asif stopped using them when his physiotherapist asked him to do so," he added.

The suspensions mean both players with miss next year's World Cup in the Caribbean and could also spell the end of the road for the world's fastest bowler Shoaib.

Prior to his appearance before the tribunal, he proclaimed his innocence and emphatically denied he had ever used performance-enhancing drugs.

"I have always played the game fair and I give 100 percent and do not feel that I need to take drugs to help my bowling," he told the BBC.

However, the tribunal found little in the way of evidence to back up the speedster's claims.

"Akhtar contested the case saying that he has been on a high-protein diet which contained beef, chicken meat and other dietary supplements and also said he took some herbal medicines from a hakim [herbal expert] but he couldn't prove it," said Hamid

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