'PCB chief interfered in hearing process'

The doping saga involving Shoaib and Asif takes a serious turn with the head of Drugs Tribunal alleging that the Board tried to influence them.

The doping saga involving Pakistani pacers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif on Saturday took a serious turn with the head of Drugs Tribunal that heard the case alleging that the Pakistan Cricket Board tried to influence the outcome.

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Barrister Shahid Hamid, who headed the Tribunal that banned Akhtar for two years and Asif for one year for testing positive for a banned steroid, on Saturday confirmed a newsreport that PCB Chairman Nasim Ashraf wrote a letter advising him on certain aspects of the case days prior to the verdict was announced on Nov 1.

"I took it as an interference in our working and I told a senior member of the board's Advisory counsel to sort out matters, after which Ashraf called me up and apologized," Hamid told PTI on Saturday.

"I was very upset with this letter as there was no need for it and we were already well aware of what had to be done to provide full and proper opportunities to the players to defend themselves," Hamid said.

The report in question appeared on Saturday in Nation which published a fasmacile of the letter written by Ashraf to Hamid dated October 28.

In the letter, Ashraf wrote that the players must have full opportunity to be legally represented and that the quantity of nandrolone found in the two players urine samples was consistent with the use of contaminated food supplements.