UAE's Asif Khan handed 15-month ban for anti-doping violation

UAE batter Asif Khan has been handed a 15-month ban after admitting to an anti-doping violation involving a banned substance, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Thursday.

The 36-year-old tested positive for a metabolite of mesterolone during an out-of-competition test conducted in September 2025. Asif admitted to violating Article 2.1 of the ICC Anti-Doping Code and accepted the sanction under a case resolution agreement reached with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the ICC.

The ban is effective from September 8, 2025, until December 7, 2026. As part of the sanction, Asif will be permitted to return to team training and use club or ICC Member facilities from October 8, 2026, but he will not be eligible to play until December 8.

There will be no right of appeal against the sanction, according to the ICC.

Matches and results to be disqualified

The ICC also confirmed that all of Asif's individual results from September 8, 2025, until his provisional suspension on December 29, 2025, have been disqualified.

This includes any resulting consequences such as the loss of medals, points, prize money and prizes. His final three T20I appearances, against India, Oman and Pakistan during the 2025 T20 Asia Cup, came after September 8 and will therefore be removed from his record.

Asif's UAE career

A former Pakistan Under-19 cricketer, Asif made his UAE international debut in March 2022 in an ODI against Oman in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2.

He went on to represent the UAE in 38 ODIs and 56 T20Is between his debut and September 2025. The right-handed batter became an established member of the UAE's limited-overs setup during that period.

His suspension now rules him out of international cricket until December 2026, with his return to competitive action dependent on the completion of the full period of ineligibility.