Bodybuilding: Hanif banned for two years

KARACHI: A three-member national anti-doping panel has imposed a two-year ban on bodybuilder Mohammad Hanif who tested positive for doping before this year’s South Asian Beach Games in Sri Lanka. According to officials, Hanif pleaded not guilty at the hearing held in Lahore on Monday, saying that he had consumed the banned drugs unintentionally. However, the anti-doping panel, headed by Director-General Pakistan Sports Board Syed Amir Hamza Gilani remained unconvinced by Hanif’s plea. The bodybuilder reserves the right to lodge an appeal against the ban within a 15-day period.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2011.