Mohammad Asif's Whereabouts
Last night the News Channels started reporting that charges against Mohammad Asif had been dropped and the pacer was bein released by te Dubai Police and flying back to Pakistan.
Dawn, Jang, Gulfnews, and many other news papers carried the same story this morning.
False they all were.
Mohammad Asif is stil in custody at the Dubai Airport, and the charges can't be dropped at the moment because no charges have been filed yet.
The substance that Asif was carrying is at present in a lab awaiting test results. As is Asif's urine sample.
No charges can be laid till the test results come in, which is why Asif remains in custody with the airport authorities and not the Dubai Police.
If the substance is found out to be an illegal one, the airport authorities will file a charge against Asif and a trial will be conducted.
PCB and other well connected political figures of Pakistan are working diligently behind the scenes to get Asif released, however nothing can be done as long as tests results from the labs are unavialable.
Another issue that is delaying the entire process is that a member of the UAE Royal Family passed away in an accident yesterday due to which all the state departments are officially closed for 3 days of mourning.
Thus the results from the lab, filing of charges, hearing at the court, and so on can take longer than expected.
Now what does all this mean for Asif?
If the substance is found out to be hashish or opium as is widely speculated, the he faces a term of 4 years in jail as per the UAE laws.
Furthermore, if it is in fact opium, and Asif too tests positive for the substance his cricket career will all be over as opium is listed as a banned substance by WADA. With this being his 2nd drugs offence, he faces a life ban.
The men working behind the scenes may be able to get Asif pardoned from the 4-year sentence, but saving his cricket career will be beyong them too.
For the meantime, Sohail Khan has replaced Asif in the 16-member squad for the tri series in Bangladesh.
I will keep you updated on this.
Dawn, Jang, Gulfnews, and many other news papers carried the same story this morning.
False they all were.
Mohammad Asif is stil in custody at the Dubai Airport, and the charges can't be dropped at the moment because no charges have been filed yet.
The substance that Asif was carrying is at present in a lab awaiting test results. As is Asif's urine sample.
No charges can be laid till the test results come in, which is why Asif remains in custody with the airport authorities and not the Dubai Police.
If the substance is found out to be an illegal one, the airport authorities will file a charge against Asif and a trial will be conducted.
PCB and other well connected political figures of Pakistan are working diligently behind the scenes to get Asif released, however nothing can be done as long as tests results from the labs are unavialable.
Another issue that is delaying the entire process is that a member of the UAE Royal Family passed away in an accident yesterday due to which all the state departments are officially closed for 3 days of mourning.
Thus the results from the lab, filing of charges, hearing at the court, and so on can take longer than expected.
Now what does all this mean for Asif?
If the substance is found out to be hashish or opium as is widely speculated, the he faces a term of 4 years in jail as per the UAE laws.
Furthermore, if it is in fact opium, and Asif too tests positive for the substance his cricket career will all be over as opium is listed as a banned substance by WADA. With this being his 2nd drugs offence, he faces a life ban.
The men working behind the scenes may be able to get Asif pardoned from the 4-year sentence, but saving his cricket career will be beyong them too.
For the meantime, Sohail Khan has replaced Asif in the 16-member squad for the tri series in Bangladesh.
I will keep you updated on this.
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so we have two of our premier fast bowlers out of the game for extra-curriculars ... amazing stuff.
shoaib akhter part 2?
Sad but true..
Jail time in UAE sounds terrible. Good Lord, lets hope he gets out of there, and then all the wrist-slapping can take place when he gets back home. No matter how stupid the person, I would not want them to suffer from a) laws that shouldn't exist in the first place and b) the horrors of a jail cell with criminals of a completely different mind-sent.
Lets hope so Samir.
Latest news is that he tested negative, while the substance found was Hashish.
Surprising abt his test results cos he is a regular charsi.
Either way, the fact that it was hashish it means he faces 4 years in jail, unless well connected Pakistanis can get him pardoned.
We should find out on Sunday when courts open again here.