Asif's fate to be decided today

Detained Pakistani pacer Mohammad Asif's fate hangs in the balance as on Sunday (June 8) he will be charged with possession of drugs or allowed to return home even as a harried Pakistan Cricket Board continues to run from pillar to post to save the bowler from being prosecuted in Dubai.

Detained since last Sunday, Asif also faces a dicey situation at home even if he is cleared by the public prosecutor as pressure is mounting on the Pakistan Cricket Board to take action against him for getting involved in a drug scandal that has again brought a bad name to Pakistan cricket.

"The factual position is that at the moment he is under detention and the prosecutor has confirmed that the substance found on him is opium. Asif says he didn't know how it got into his wallet," a senior official of the board said.

"The prosecutor has to decide on Sunday if there is a strong enough case and evidence to try Asif for possession of drugs. He is now under the laws of Dubai and we are keeping our fingers crossed," he added.

The official said indications were that Asif might have to remain in detention for a bit longer as the prosecutor could allow customs and police officials to carry out more investigations and further question Asif.

Incidentally also on Sunday, Asif's teammate and partner in three of the biggest scandals to rock Pakistan cricket, Shoaib Akhtar also appears before the appellate tribunal in Lahore.

The tribunal will resume hearing his appeal against the five-year ban imposed on him by the disciplinary committee of the PCB in March. The tribunal had suspended the ban for a month to allow Shoaib to play in the Indian Premier League but it became automatically active again on June 4.

Shoaib and Asif, in 2006, escaped bans on technical grounds (for using a banned substance) while last year Shoaib was suspended for 13 matches and fined Rs 3.4 million for striking Asif with a bat in South Africa before the Twenty20 World Cup and was sent back home in disgrace.

Both also missed the 2007 World Cup due to fitness related problems but privately it was said the board didn't risk sending them to the West Indies because of their earlier positive tests for nandrolone.

Now in the latest scandal, Asif is clearly facing a bleak future although sources say the board has asked the Pakistan embassy in Dubai to use its influence with the royal family to save the pacer from being prosecuted in court.

"The board is doing its best but since he is detained on foreign land there is a limit to what we can do. It is now up to the prosecutor what he decides," one source said. The board has also come under growing pressure from some Senators and former players for trying to rescue Asif.

Senator Enver Baig of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party has said since Asif was not on national duty when he was detained in Dubai the board should not have got involved in an issue involving drugs.

"We have summoned the board officials on June 18 before the Senate standing committee on sports and culture and we want answers on this latest scandal," Baig said.

The belguared Mohammad Asif may walk free on Sunday (June 8), but with pressure mounting on the PCB as well as the cricketer. However, high chances exist of a bleak future might just await at home for the promising pacer.