LAHORE, June 3: In a shocking development Pakistan’s pace spearhead Mohammad Asif was arrested at Dubai airport on charges of possessing illegal drugs, cricket officials confirmed on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Asif was seized while returning home from India after featuring in the Indian Premier League (IPL) event which ended on Sunday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials said.

“Yes, we can confirm about Asif’s arrest. He was stopped at Dubai airport on charges of carrying opium and was supposed to be brought before the magistrate soon,” the official said.

Meanwhile, PCB human resources director Nadeem Akram said he was in Dubai and has also hired a lawyer to assist Asif. “I am in Dubai as part of the PCB’s efforts to get Asif cleared. As far as we know a contraband item was in his wallet which he himself did not know and it’s in a very small quantity,” Nadeem said by telephone.

“He was detained at the airport and was interrogated. As far as we know no first incident report has been lodged as yet but police have conducted several tests on Asif including a urine test. A lawyer has also been hired,” he added.

“We have not been officially told about the nature of the substance and quantity. There have been lots of speculations.”—AFP

Mohammad Yaqoob adds: The PCB on Tuesday came out in support of Asif and expressed hope that he may join the Pakistan team for the June 8 tri-series in Bangladesh.

As news about Asif getting arrested at the Dubai airport spread like wild fire, the PCB moved to quell the rumours and said that it was gathering various details to put up a case for the pacer.

“We don’t have the full details about the case as it is still under investigation by the concerned authorities,” said PCB’s Chief Coordinating Officer Shafqat Naghmi at a press conference. “What we do know though is that it has to do with something the bowler had in his possession while coming from India to Pakistan via Dubai. But we have to wait since no charges have been levelled against him as yet.

“The item found has been sent to a lab by the Dubai authorities and we are all awaiting the lab reports,” Naghmi added.

“What we understand is that Asif has been detained at the Dubai airport due to some offence or misunderstanding. However, the board is hopeful for his acquittal and hopefully he will return soon.”

When Naghmi’s attention was drawn towards a reported statement by Nadeem from Dubai that a small quantity of hashish was recovered from Asif, he advised the media not to speculate too much at this stage.

Naghmi clarified that though the PCB expects this to be some kind of a mistake, it will be taking measures to settle the issue amicably.

“The Pakistan Embassy in Dubai has also been involved to reach a solution.”

To a question about the PCB making the bowler available for selection for the tri-series despite the scandal, Naghmi replied that the board still considered Asif as innocent until further development.

“At the moment there is no question about getting a replacement for Asif as our first priority is to take him with the national team to Bangladesh,” emphasised Naghmi.

However, there are reports that medium-pacer Sohail Khan is likely to replace Asif for the BD series since he happens to be the lone pacer in the list of reserves for the tri-nation event.

There are reports that it could take another week to receive Asif’s test reports and the bowler may remain in detention till then.

Meanwhile, conflicting reports emanating from Dubai also suggested that Asif was treated shabbily by the airport authorities which resulted in a brawl that eventually landed Asif in custody.

Since the bowler was in transit at the Dubai airport, it was strange that he was brought in for check-in. It is also suspected that the authorities possible had some information on the pacer carrying some banned stuff.