Doping Violation: Yusuf Pathan Handed Five-Month Ban

Yusuf Pathan has been handed a five-month retrospective suspension for a doping violation after he “inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups,” the BCCI said in an official statement on Tuesday.

While playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Baroda in Delhi on 16 March 2017, Pathan provided a urine sample that was later found to contain Terbutaline, which is prohibited both in and out of competition by the WADA.

On 27 October 2017, he 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.

Pathan admitted to the anti-doping violation and asserted 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.

The BCCI said they were “satisfied with Pathan’s explanation that he had taken Terbutaline inadvertently to treat an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI) and not as a performance-enhancing drug. Having considered all of the evidence and taken expert external advice, the BCCI has accepted Pathan’s explanation of the cause of his ADRV, and on that basis has agreed that a period of ineligibility of five months should apply, together with the disqualification of certain results.”