The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday suspended Discarded India’s and Baroda all-rounder Yusuf Pathan. The member of the 2011 World Cup winning side has been suspended for the violation. In a shocking eye-opener, Yusuf Pathan had failed a dope test during a domestic match.
The BCCI also asked the state association of Baroda not to pick Yusuf Pathan for the recently concluded Ranji Trophy season, after the all-rounder was tested positive for a banned substance Terbutaline during the tournament last year. “The five-month period of ineligibility had started on 15 August 2017 and end at midnight on 14 January 2018,” the BCCI’s official statement added.
However, accepting the cricketer’s explanation for the offense, the board decided to back-date the five-month suspension. He “inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups,” the BCCI acting honorary secretary Amitabh Choudhary said in a statement.
According to a report, Pathan, who played just one Ranji Trophy game for Baroda last season, “consumed a medicine named Brozeet which has Terbutaline in it. While Terbutaline is a banned substance, a player is allowed to take it if he has taken prior permission, neither Pathan nor the team doctor took prior permission,” says the report.
A statement by BCCI testifies the same. The statement said, “Mr. Yusuf Pathan has been suspended for a doping violation. Yusuf Pathan had inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups.
“Yusuf Pathan had provided a urine sample as part of the BCCI’s anti-doping testing program during a domestic T-20 competition on 16th March 2017 in New Delhi. His sample was subsequently tested and found to contain Terbutaline, a specified substance, is prohibited both In & Out of Competition in the WADA Prohibited List of Substances,” Choudhary further added.
The report further adds that after the test returned positive, BCCI asked Baroda not to pick Pathan for the remainder of the tournament. Pathan has not played any form of cricket since October last year. Pathan is now the second Indian cricketer to be tested positive after Delhi bowler Pradeep Sangwan was handed an 18-month ban after he was tested positive for banned substances during 2012 IPL.
“On 27th October 2017, Yusuf Pathan was charged with the commission of an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) under the BCCI Anti-Doping Rules (ADR) Article 2.1 and provisionally suspended pending determination of the charge. “Yusuf Pathan responded to the charge by admitting the ADRV and asserting that it was caused by his ingestion of a medication containing terbutaline that had been mistakenly given to him instead of the medication prescribed for him, which did not contain any prohibited substance,” the statement further read.
Interestingly, BCCI has been under pressure from Indian government’s anti-doping watchdog, National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) to conduct the tests on Indian cricketers, but the board had made it clear that it will not shift from its anti-doping policies and will not allow NADA to conduct the tests on Indian cricketers.
Yusuf Pathan has been suspended for five months for a doping violation. He had inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups.The BCCI is satisfied with Mr Pathan’s explanation : BCCI pic.twitter.com/jWA8T4TJae
— ANI (@ANI) January 9, 2018
The BCCI has a zero-tolerance approach towards doping in Cricket. All Cricketers are personally responsible for ensuring that anything they eat, drink or put in their body does not give rise to an ADRV under the BCCI Anti-Doping Code. The BCCI provides a dedicated 24X7 Anti-Doping Helpline where the Cricketers and Cricket support personnel can contact for any drug queries.
Right after the statement from the BCCI, Yusuf Pathan thanked the board for letting him plead his case in a ‘fair and reasonable manner’. Pathan tweeted, “I wish to thank the @BCCI for allowing me to plead my case in a fair and reasonable manner.”
Yusuf’s statement:
I wish to thank the @BCCI for allowing me to plead my case in a fair and reasonable manner. pic.twitter.com/S83TNUpqxZ— Yusuf Pathan (@iamyusufpathan) January 9, 2018