 The
Sri Lankan opening batman, Upul Tharanga has been banned by the ICC for
three months for his transgression involving drug-intake. Tharanga failed his
drug test during the World Cup, something that was revealed at the end of the
tournament.
The ICC has said that while Tharanga had made a genuine mistake and it was not
a deliberate one, they also said that the onus of knowing which drug to take and
which ones not to lay squarely on the cricketer. This meant that the ICC had no
option but to ban the player. The ban is back dated from May 9 2011, and that
will allow Tharanga to play from August 9 onwards, if selected.
Speaking to the media after this sentence was announced, Tharanga said he was
sorry to the fans of the game for having made a non-deliberate mistake. He added
that he had learnt from his mistake and hoped that other cricketers would also
learn from that experience while using medical treatment.
What had happened was that Tharanga had given his urine sample as part of ICC's
random in-competition testing. This was done at the end of Sri Lanka
semi-finals at Colombo, which revealed the presence of Prednisone and
Prednisolone. These are two which banned by the WADA from use.
The anti doping committee said that they had accepted the submission made by Tharanga
that he had taken the substances as a part of the herbal remedy to his fitness
issues related to the shoulders. They also added that it was concluded that Tharanga
did not do something like that deliberately, which meant that he had no intention
of cheating the game.
They also added that the fact that Tharanga pleaded guilty to the issue very early
helped his cause as well and the points that he had earned as a cricketer to his
ranking were disqualified.
It has been said that Tharanga can appeal against the verdict within 21 days of
getting the decision in writing. However, given that he has apologised for what
he did and shown remorse, one thinks that there is a good chance that he will
not appeal against the verdict.
Sri Lanka had entered the final of the 2011 edition of the World Cup but lost
to India in the final.
|
