The ICC on Tuesday suspended South African batter Zubayr Hamza from all cricket-related activities for a period of nine months after he admitted to an anti-doping rule violation under the apex body's anti-doping code. (More Cricket News)
Hamza provided an out-of-competition sample on January 17, 2022 in Paarl, South Africa, in which the prohibited substance Furosemide - which is a specified substance in Section S5 of the 2022 WADA Prohibited List - was found.
He admitted the violation and, having established no significant fault or negligence on his part, a nine-month period of ineligibility has been imposed, backdated to 22 March 2022, the date that Hamza accepted a provisional suspension.
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The effect of this suspension is that Hamza will be eligible to return to cricket on December 22, 2022.
In addition, all of Hamza's individual performances between January 17 to March 22, 2022 have been disqualified.
The 26-year-old has so far played six Tests and one ODI for South Africa and with the ICC's latest sanctions, he would lose out on a total of 31 runs (25 and 6) which he scored for the Proteas in a Test match against the New Zealand at Christchurch between February 17-19.
ICC GM (Integrity Unit) Alex Marshall said: "The ICC is committed to keeping cricket clean and has a zero-tolerance approach to doping.
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"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."
