Karachi/Dubai: Detained Pakistani pacer Mohammad Asif appeared before public prosecutor in Dubai on Thursday but will have to wait until Sunday to know his fate, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Executive Officer Shafqat Naghmi said.

He also denied that the board was using government and diplomatic channels to get Asif released from detention.

“That is not correct. We have hired a law firm which is handling the issue. Our lawyer will meet with the prosecutor this evening for more details off the case,” Naghmi said.

However, Pakistani TV channels television claimed laboratory tests have proved that the substance recovered from Asif was at the Dubai airport was opium, around 2.5 grams in quantity.

Asif was detained early Sunday morning while returning from India after playing in the Indian Premier League.

In the past several celebrity figures have been detained by the airport authorities in Dubai for possession of small quantity of drugs. A few have been sentenced and served it while others have been sentenced but then pardoned and sent back home.

Earlier, media reports in Dubai claimed that tests at the Dubai General Department of Forensic Science have proved that the substance recovered from Asif was hashish but the authorities may not refer the case to court and deport the player.

“The Dubai Attorney General is expected to sign administrative deportation orders, thereby ensuring that the case is not referred to the Dubai Courts,” Khaleej Times quoted its sources in the police and attorney general office as saying.

Chief prosecutor Mohammed Rustom, meanwhile, made it clear that he would go by the forensic reports.

“We will proceed according to reports of the tests from the Dubai General Department of Forensic Science,” he said.

Asif remains in the Dubai airport detention centre since Sunday morning when he reached there for a 15-hour transit stay while returning from Mumbai on his way home.