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Issues with WADA resolved: ICC
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November 01, 2006 17:44 IST

The International Cricket Council on Wednesday said it was wrong of the WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) officials to express the problems faced by them through newspapers.

WADA officials criticised the ICC [Images] for not making proper arrangements to carry out random drug tests on players during the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy.

Yousef Hasan (Kuwait) and Badar Al Saeed (Saudi Arabia), the two officials representing the WADA, had said the ICC was given a list of requirements, but the facilities it provided were not up to standard.

"I am aware of the issues faced by the WADA officials, but it was disappointing to see the issue in the newspaper," ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed [Images] said in Chandigarh.

Speed said it was wrong of the two officials to say that they were not provided airfare for their trip to India.

"The two officials in India had raised an issue about the airfare that they had to bear from Saudi Arabia to India. There was an agreement that WADA officials will pay the airfare first and then they will be reimbursed at the end of the tournament when the ICC will pay the overall cost. That is the normal procedure and we had agreed to it," Speed clarified.

He agreed that there were some problems in the first few matches, but affirmed that all were resolved.

"In the initial matches there were some difficulties since WADA officials were coming to cricket matches for the first time. They are only used to covering athletic events, so this is a new sport for them. But all those issues were resolved first time. After that I wasn't aware of any issues faced by the officials," Speed added.

This is the first time that doping tests are being conducted officially at ICC events. The samples taken from two players, randomly chosen from any of the playing teams during the tournament, are being sent for analysis to a WADA laboratory in Kuala Lumpur.

The two officials were not happy with the venue of the drug tests and also the fact that the players were not issued ID cards, which made identification difficult.

"I met the two officials and asked them to come to the PCA ground here. I asked them to take me through the dope test procedure so I could understand it and put it in place if anything was needed to be sorted out," Speed said.

"I checked everything including the rooms where dope testing is done, also looked at the documents that are filled and how the samples are tested and sent. We parted after receiving an understanding that they are comfortable with the facilities provided, the samples taken are kept intact, and will be sent to the WADA laboratory in Malaysia."

Speed said he has spoken to WADA director general David Howman, who assured him that there is no problem at the moment.

"There is absolutely no issue between the ICC and WADA. I have even spoken to the director general of WADA and he said he is satisfied," he said.


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