The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz after he tested positive for a cannabis-related substance earlier this year.
In April, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had sent the player’s medical history to the cricketing watchdog after reports emerged that he had failed a dope test during the T20 World Cup that Sri Lanka and India jointly hosted.
In a press release issued on Friday, the ICC said the 32-year-old cricketer had tested positive for Carboxy-THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis classified as Substance of Abuse under ICC’s Anti-Doping Code, in a test that followed Pakistan’s T20 World Cup 2026 match against the Netherlands in Colombo on February 7.
“Nawaz admitted to the offence and demonstrated that the substance had been used out-of-competition, in a manner unrelated to sport performance,” the ICC said, handing him a “three-month period of ineligibility” but backdated it to May 1 – the date Nawaz began a voluntary provisional suspension.
He also committed to a substance abuse rehabilitation programme, which, once completed, reduces the period of ineligibility to one month, the ICC said.
After Nawaz accepted the sanction and committed to the rehabilitation programme, the ICC lifted his provisional suspension, which he had served for two-and-a-half months.
“Subject to Nawaz completing a substance abuse treatment programme to the ICC’s satisfaction, Nawaz will not be required to serve any further period of ineligibility,” it said.
However, in line with the anti-doping code, the ICC disqualified his records from the Netherlands match and all subsequent matches until May 1.
