Yusuf Pathan was given a backdated five month ban by the BCCI for a doping code violation. His ban will end on January 14, having started on August 15 last year.
Yusuf Pathan had inadvertently ingested a cough syrup which contained the banned substance, instead of the medicine prescribed for him, which was free of any banned drug. Pathan had provided a urine sample for testing as part of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) anti-doping testing programme in March, 2017 in New Delhi, during a domestic T20 tournament.
The sample came out positive for banned substance Terbutaline, which is a specified substance and is prohibited both in & out of competition in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibited list of substances.
“On October 27, 2017, Mr 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,” said a BCCI statement.
The statement further stated that, “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.”
Yusuf's statement:
— Yusuf Pathan (@iamyusufpathan) January 9, 2018
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 released his own statement on the issue saying, “Competing for India and my home state Baroda has been a matter of immense pride and encouragement for me and I would never act in any manner to bring my motherland or Baroda, in any kind of disrepute.”
“In hindsight, I should have been more careful and checked the status of the medications with BCCI’s dedicated anti-doping Helpline,” he added.
Yusuf Pathan will not miss any games in IPL 2018 due to his ban being backdated.