Dubai, August 27: UAE cricketer Asif Khan has been handed a 15-month ban from all cricket activities following a positive test for a banned substance. The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced this decision on Thursday.
The 36-year-old player acknowledged violating Article 2.1 of the ICC Anti-Doping Code after an out-of-competition test conducted on September 8, 2025, revealed the presence of a metabolite of mestanolone. Article 2.1 specifies that an anti-doping violation occurs when a cricketer’s urine or blood sample tests positive for prohibited substances.
In its statement, the ICC noted, “Asif admitted to breaching Article 2.1 of the ICC Anti-Doping Code and accepted a 15-month ban under the case resolution agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the ICC.”
The board further stated, “All personal results from September 8, 2025, until his provisional suspension on December 29, 2025, have been disqualified, including any medals, points, or prize money.” There is no right to appeal under the case resolution agreement.
Mestanolone, typically found in urine samples, is a synthetic anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) banned by WADA both in and out of competition.
Asif will be allowed to return to training at the UAE’s official facility starting October 8, but he will remain ineligible for competitive matches until December 8.
The right-handed batsman played domestic cricket in Pakistan from 2007 to 2014 before moving to the UAE for international cricket in 2017. Since making his international debut in 2022, Asif has played 38 ODIs and 56 T20s for the UAE, scoring 1,270 and 1,302 runs, respectively.
Leave a Comment