Pakistan cricketer Ahmad Shahzad fails dope test
Islamabad, July 10: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday confirmed that the country's international cricketer Ahmad Shahzad has failed a dope test and is likely to face suspension, an official statement said.
PCB announced that opening batsman Shahzad has tested positive for a banned substance in a dope test conducted during a domestic tournament and that he would be charged soon, which will finally lead to his suspension from the game for several months, reports Xinhua news agency.
The 26-year-old batsman, who recently played for Pakistan in the Twenty20 series against Scotland in June, was found guilty after the PCB received a report from the Independent Review Board on Tuesday.
Last month, the PCB, without naming any player, confirmed that a cricketer had failed a doping test.
"A player has reportedly tested positive for a prohibited substance. But under the International Cricket Council rules the PCB cannot name the player or charge-sheet him until the chemical report is confirmed by the Anti-Dope Agency," the board said on last month.
Later, the report of the cricketer was sent to India for a recheck due to some concerns and sensitivity of the matter.
"Pakistan's anti-doping agency wanted to be very sure and double-check it because a senior player was involved, hence it asked the Indian lab to re-check the tests," the PCB said earlier.
Shahzad has been part of several controversies since the start of his international career in 2009. He has been out of Pakistan's national team since the World Twenty20 in 2016 in India after which the then head coach of Pakistan team Waqar Younis had recommended dropping him due to disciplinary issues.
According to sports analysts, Shahzad is likely to face a ban for one-year over the dope test failure.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
