Karachi: An appeals panel today overturned doping bans on Pakistani bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif.

A Pakistan Cricket Board tribunal on November 1 banned them after they tested positive for the banned steroid.

Fakhruddin G Ibrahim, chairman of the appeals panel, said that on a 2-1 split decision, it was setting aside that punishment. “This appeals committee holds that Akhtar and Asif cannot be deemed to have committed a doping offense” under PCB anti-doping regulations, he said.