Rabada flew back to South Africa after two IPL 2025 matches
South Africa Cricketers’ Association (SACA) chief Andrew Breetzke took a brutal swipe at former Australia Test captain Tim Paine for his comments on the handling of suspended pacer Kagiso Rabada who failed a drug test.
Rabada flew back to South Africa from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 after playing two games for Gujarat Titans following his test results and subsequent suspension for his use of recreational drug.
On May 3, the pacer put out a statement through the SACA saying,
“I am deeply sorry to all those that I have let down. I will never take the privilege of playing cricket for granted. This privilege is much larger than me. It goes beyond my personal aspirations.”
Rabada’s suspension of one month was over by May 5 after being informed of his test results on April 1.
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Paine took a dig at Rabada for hiding behind ‘personal issues’ as he left IPL 2025.
“It stinks. I don’t like this use around personal issues and it is being used to hide stuff that isn’t a personal issue. If you have a professional sportsman who’s tested for recreational drugs during a tournament in which he is playing, that doesn’t fall under personal issues for me. That falls under you having broken your contract. That is not a personal issue,” Paine said on the SEN Radio Breakfast Show.
In reply, Andrew Breetzke pointed out that everything was according to the rules and took a dig at Australia who have been involved in multiple scandals including Paine.
“The criticism that’s coming from Australia is somewhat naive and lacks understanding of how doping processes are managed. Effectively, he [Rabada] was notified on the first of April of the positive test, and we consulted with him on the 1st of April for the first time. In accordance with the SAIDS and WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) rules, there is a clear process that follows out of that, and we started that process immediately with him flying back to South Africa, getting the legal team together, the medical experts together and started the process relative to the rules,” Breetzke told South African outlet Sportsboom.
Breetzke went on to elaborate on the rules in simplified terms and the levels of punishment.
“That’s exactly how it played out. It played out as it must in terms of the rules. When someone tests positive for substance of abuse, the rules are pretty clear, if it’s taken in competition, it’s a two-year suspension, if you can prove it’s out of competition you can get it down to three months and if you go into a designated counselling program you can get it down to one month,” he added.
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