Hamza cops a nine-month ban

ZUBAYR Hamza received a nine-month ban from the International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday after admitting to violating the organisation’s anti-doping code.

Hamza tested positive for the prohibited substance Furosemide, which is used to treat edema

– the build-up of fluid – and hypertension.

The substance was found in an out-of-competition test conducted on January 17 this year.

Hamza’s suspension was backdated to March and as a result, he will only be available to play again on December 22 this year.

In addition, all of the representative matches Hamza played from January 17 and March 22 have been disqualified.

Hamza played in the first Test against New Zealand in Christchurch that started on 17 February, and then played in two domestic one-day matches for Western Province a few weeks later.

The ICC stated that Hamza, who will be 27 next month, admitted the violation, and that the organisation had established “no significant fault or negligence on his part”.

“The ICC is committed to keeping cricket clean and has a zero-tolerance approach to doping,” said Alex Marshall, ICC General Manager: Integrity Unit.

“It is also a timely reminder to all international cricketers that they remain responsible for anything they put into their bodies, to know exactly what medication they are taking, so as to ensure it does not contain a prohibited substance and does not result in an anti-doping rule violation.”

At the time of his suspension in March, Hamza had informed both Cricket SA and the ICC that he did not take the substance to enhance performance or hide other substances that could mask performance-enhancers.

The most famous case involving Furosemide centred around baseball star Robinson Cano, who was banned for 80 games by Major League Baseball in 2018 after testing positive for the drug. Cano claimed at the time that he used the drug to treat “various medical conditions”.