SACA chief slams Tim Paine over Kagiso Rabada drug ban comments

South Africa Cricketers Association (SACA) chief Andrew Breetzke hit back at former Australia captain Tim Paine for criticising the handling of right-arm pacer Kagiso Rabada’s drug ban.

According to South African media, the star pacer served a month-long ban for recreational drug use as traces of benzoylecgonine (BZE), a metabolite of cocaine, were found in his urine sample.

As a result, Rabada left the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 midway after representing Gujarat Titans (GT) in just two matches.

His IPL franchise, GT, had initially cited a "significant personal matter" as the reason for his departure on April 3, without disclosing further details or a timeline for his return.

Later, it was revealed that his abrupt departure was due to a one-month ban on the pacer over recreational drug use.

The handling of Rabada’s case had drawn criticism, particularly regarding the transparency of his absence from the IPL, with former Australia captain Tim Paine, speaking on SEN Radio, questioning GT’s initial explanation.

“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,” he said on a Radio show.”

“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; that is something that is happening in your personal life,” he added.

Meanwhile, SACA chief Breetzke labelled the criticism to be naive before emphasising that the association followed the rules in handling the case.

He also praised Rabada’s professionalism and honesty during the process.

“The criticism that’s coming from Australia is somewhat naive and lacks understanding of how doping processes are managed,” he said.

“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,” he added.

“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,” explained Breetzke.

“We ticked off those boxes, and that’s how the process unfolded over the month of April. It was professionally dealt with, and KG [Rabada] was absolutely professional, open, and honest in the process, which is why we were able to do it within that time frame,” Breetzke concluded.