Asif banned for a year

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif was on Wednesday slapped with a one-year ban from the Indian Premier League (IPL) for failing a dope test during last year's inaugural tournament.
Asif, 26, tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone during the opening season of the Twenty20 tournament in 2008, in which he turned out for the Delhi Daredevils franchise.
The bowler, who is suspended from playing official cricket by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), will not be allowed to take part in the second edition of the lucrative tournament in April and May.
The ban, which Asif said he was considering appealing, means little since he himself sought release from his franchise last month even as the Pakistan government refused permission for its players to play in the IPL this year for security reasons.
A release from the IPL drugs tribunal said Asif's ban would run from September 2008 for a year.
"The year's ineligibility for Mohammad Asif will be from September 22, 2008 as that was the date when the Indian Premier League had imposed the suspension order," it said.
Asif told the tribunal last month that his nandrolone levels had been enhanced by the use of eye drops which contained the substance.
The tribunal comprised former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar, lawyer Shirish Gupte and medical specialist Ravi Bapat.
Asif was detained at Dubai airport for 19 days last June after 0.24 grams of opium were found in his wallet. After being deported to Pakistan, he was told he had also failed the IPL test.
The International Cricket Council, the sport's ruling body, said Asif was unlikely to represent Pakistan until his IPL ban had expired.
"The ICC confirms its expectation that all member boards will adopt the ban and as such the player will not be available for official cricket until the ban has been completed," an ICC statement said.
Asif said he had been expecting the decision.
"I had to suffer eight to nine months, so I wanted it to be decided one way or the other, but I am considering to appeal against this," he told AFP by telephone from Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore.
"I am consulting my lawyer to appeal and explore whether the ban can be reduced to three months," said Asif, 26.
"I didn't take any banned substances intentionally. I don't want to carry the stigma of having been found guilty of taking banned substances," he said.
PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said: "We feel it's a fair decision. He [Asif] is an asset for Pakistan cricket and will soon be playing for the country."
Asif has taken 51 wickets in 11 Tests, 36 wickets in 31 one-dayers and 12 wickets in nine Twenty20 internationals since his debut in 2005.