Yusuf Pathan, the Baroda allrounder, has been suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India for a doping violation, the board confirmed on Tuesday (January 9). The suspension period will be backdated and end on January 14, 2018.
Pathan’s sample, which was collected in March last year, contained Terbutaline – a substance that’s included in the WADA Prohibited List of Substances. He was provisionally suspended on 27 October, 2017 pending determination of the charge.
Pathan had admitted to taking a medicine to treat an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI).
“Mr 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,” said BCCI.
“The BCCI is satisfied with Pathan’s explanation that he had taken Terbutaline inadvertently to treat an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI) and not as a performance-enhancing drug. Having considered all of the evidence and taken expert external advice, the BCCI has accepted Pathan’s explanation of the cause of his ADRV, and on that basis has agreed that a period of ineligibility of five months should apply, together with the disqualification of certain results,” it added.
Pathan’s five-month ban will end on midnight January 14 since it started on August 15, 2017 after being backdated. BCCI said that the backdating has happened because of Pathan’s “prompt admission of his ADRV upon being confronted with it by the BCCI” and “delays in the results management in this case that are not attributable to Mr Pathan.”
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
