Proteas batter Zubayr Hamza suspended by ICC for doping violation

Proteas batter Zubayr Hamza has been suspended from all cricket-related activities for nine months after admitting to an anti-doping rule violation under the ICC anti-doping code.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Tuesday Hamza provided an out-of-competition sample on January 17 in Paarl in which prohibited substance Furosemide was found. Furosemide is a specified substance in Section S5 of the 2022 World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) prohibited list. 

The ICC said Hamza admitted the violation and, having established no significant fault or negligence on his part, a nine-month period of ineligibility was imposed.

The suspension is backdated to March 22, the date Hamza accepted a provisional suspension. 

The effect of this suspension is that Hamza will be eligible to return to cricket on December 22. All of his individual performances between January 17 and March 22 have been disqualified.

“The ICC is committed to keeping cricket clean and has a zero-tolerance approach to doping,” ICC integrity unit general manager Alex Marshall said.

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