South Africa's Zubayr Hamza suspended by ICC for doping violation

In addition to the suspension, Hamza’s individual performances between 17 January and 22 March 2022 have been nullified.

File Photo: Hamza, who admitted to the offence, provided an out-of-competition sample on 17 January 2022 in Paarl, South Africa, in which the prohibited substance Furosemide was found.

South African batter Zubayr Hamza has been suspended from all cricket for nine months for a violation of the International Cricket Council Anti-Doping Code, the ICC said on Tuesday.

Hamza, who admitted to the offence, provided an out-of-competition sample on 17 January 2022 in Paarl, South Africa, in which the prohibited substance Furosemide was found.

Furosemide is a specified substance in Section S5 of  WADA's Prohibited List for 2022.

Having found with no significant fault or negligence on his part, Hamza was imposed with the nine-month ban, backdated to 22 March 2022. He will be permitted to return to cricket on 22 December 2022.

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Additionally, Hamza’s individual performances between 17 January and 22 March 2022 have been nullified.  The 26-year-old featured in a lone Test for South Africa in the period, scoring 31 runs in two innings against New Zealand. He also featured in two List-A (27 and 19) and one First-Class (1 and 30) match for West Province in the same time frame.

Speaking on the incident ICC's General Manager of Integrity Unit, Alex Marshall said: “The ICC is committed to keeping cricket clean and has a zero-tolerance approach to doping. 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.”