Court cannot rule on Pakistan duo

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled that it has no jurisdiction to reverse a decision to overturn Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif's drugs bans.

The Pakistan pacemen were suspended for two years and a year respectively after testing positive for nandrolone.

But the Pakistan Cricket Board lifted the bans after the players claimed they had not knowingly taken the drug.

And the Lausanne-based court cannot get involved as the PCB does not recognise its authority.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) had hoped to have the suspensions upheld after appealing to CAS to interject.

The CAS has considered that it has no jurisdiction to decide the dispute

A statement from the Court of Arbitration for Sport

Wada chairman Dick Pound had told the BBC last December that the ICC - the game's governing body - was "a signatory to the anti-doping code" and that Pakistan, as a full member of the ICC, was bound by its rules.

But a statement from CAS read: "The Court of Arbitration for Sport has dismissed the appeal filed by the World Anti-Doping Agency against the Pakistan Cricket Board Anti-Doping Appeals Committee dated 5 December 2006.

"The CAS has considered that it has no jurisdiction to decide the dispute between the World Anti-Doping Agency and the Pakistan Cricket Board, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif."

Both players were in Pakistan's squad for Sunday's rain-ruined one-day match against Scotland, but could play against India in Glasgow on Tuesday.

And Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf said the CAS ruling showed the procedures followed by them had been "correct and justified".

He continued: "We followed the rules and regulations and that is why we have won this case. The PCB's policy has been proven correct and we are satisfied by this.

"The important thing about this case was that players always said they took protein substances unknowingly and this decision exonerates them."