UAE batter Asif Khan has been banned from cricket for 15 months after a metabolite of mesterolone was detected in a sample collected during an out-of-competition test on September 8, 2025. The 36-year-old acknowledged a breach of Article 2.1 of the ICC Anti-Doping Code, which covers the presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites in a player’s sample, and resolved the matter through a Case Resolution Agreement signed with the International Cricket Council and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The ineligibility period runs from September 8, 2025, through to December 7, 2026, backdated to the date the sample was collected. A provisional suspension had been imposed on December 29, 2025, and the backdating reflects standard practice under the ICC Anti-Doping Code of crediting time already served before the formal sanction is confirmed.
All individual results recorded by Khan between September 8, 2025, and December 29, 2025, have been disqualified. Any medals, points, prize money or prizes earned across that window are forfeited as a direct consequence of the confirmed violation.
What does the Case Resolution Agreement establish?
A Case Resolution Agreement allows a player to accept a stated violation and an agreed sanction without the case proceeding to a full hearing. By signing the agreement with the ICC and WADA, Khan formally admitted the Article 2.1 breach and accepted the terms of the 15-month ban without contest.
Mesterolone is a synthetic androgen that appears on the WADA Prohibited List. The detection of its metabolite in the September 8, 2025, out-of-competition sample formed the basis of the charge. The disqualification of results between the sample collection date and the start of the provisional suspension is a standard consequence under the code whenever a violation of this kind is confirmed.
When can Asif Khan return to competitive cricket?
Khan is permitted to resume training alongside a team or make use of team facilities from October 8, 2026, giving him roughly two months to rebuild match readiness before his competitive return. His full eligibility is restored from December 8, 2026, the day after the ineligibility period expires.
The ban covers a significant stretch of what has been a productive international career. Khan has featured in 38 ODIs and 56 T20Is for the UAE since his international debut in 2022, establishing himself as one of the more experienced batters in the squad.
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