ACB under fire over length of ban on Warne

“They found no exceptional circumstances… how is it that you don’t impose the minimum penalty?”

If certain exceptional circumstances are thought to exist, an athlete can be exonerated completely after a positive test.

Warne, the most successful leg spinner in history, was sent home from the cricket World Cup last month after testing positive for a diuretic he said his mother had given him to help him slim down.

Diuretics can also be used to help mask other performance-enhancing drugs.

The Australian Cricket Board meted out a 12-month ban 10days ago, but a mandatory two-year ban for serious doping offences is central to the Anti-Doping Code being pushed through at the Copenhagen drugs summit staged by WADA. (Reuters)