Urging the International Cricket Council to take stern action against Shane Warne, former Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga said the Asian world would be watching carefully what steps would be taken against the drug-tainted leg spinner.

"What interests me more is how the ICC will treat the case. If Warne were an Asian he would have been buried for sure by now. Whenever an Australian or a white guy does a crime, he is found to be innocent. This one will be tough for the ICC because he's an Aussie," Ranatunga was quoted as saying by a website.

Warne was sent back home from the World Cup after he tested positive for a diuretic, which is banned, and normally used to aid fluid loss or to mask performance-enhancing drugs.

The champion leg spinner's fate would be decided on Saturday when an anti-doping committee of the Australian Cricket Board announces its decision.

Warne could face a ban for maximum two years if found guilty, although he could be reprieved under "exceptional circumstances" according to a clause in the ACB's anti-doping policy.

Ranatunga said he believes authorities protected Warne, suggesting a cover-up over his role in the match-fixing scandal.

"It's ridiculous to say that a bookie paid Warne thousands of dollars for a weather report or some information on the wicket," Ranatunga said. "The newspapers have the weather report every day and why should a bookie pay Warne dollars for pitch information," Ranatunga said, who led Sri Lanka to their only World Cup win in 1996.

Ranatunga, whose relationship with Warne turned sour after the Australian claimed that the game would be better off without him prior to the 1999 World Cup, said the ACB let Warne off the hook despite the serious allegations levelled against him.

"In Sri Lanka, he just has to stuff a grand into the curator's pocket and he will tell you what he has done with the wicket in the whole of last week," he said.

Warne was let off with a fine and reprimand by the ACB after it was revealed that the leg-spinner had received money from an Indian bookmaker for providing pitch and weather information during Australia's tour of Sri Lanka in 1994.