VRA Amsterdam’s Dutch international off-spinner Adeel Raja has been suspended for two years after testing positive for the banned substance finasteride.

Raja was routinely tested after the Hoofdklasse final on 8 September, and the penalty was imposed at a meeting of the KNCB disciplinary committee on 27 November.

According to the committee’s findings, published on the KNCB website, Raja admitted using the substance, which has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned items since 2004, on the basis that it can be employed to mask the presence of steroids.

But Raja insisted that he had not used the finasteride to improve his performances, or to mask any other substance, and accepting this, the committee decided that the second year of his suspension should itself be suspended for a probationary period of two years.

It is understood that Raja has appealed against the sentence.

The news comes days after Brazilian football star Romario also tested positive for finasteride. In his case, the penalty is reportedly likely to be considerably lighter than that imposed on Raja, ranging from 120 days to a year.

Although the KNCB disciplinary committee has taken the unusual step of withholding much of the detail in the case, including the letter submitted by Raja and the player’s own representations at the hearing, finasteride is typically employed as an agent against hair loss.

Romario has declared that that was the reason that he had taken the substance.

One of the few details included in the KNCB report is that Raja had previously received authorisation for his use of finasteride. Apparently he omitted to renew this permission at some point before 8 September, so that he was not covered by any dispensation when he was tested.

The penalty could have serious implications for the 27-year-old Raja’s chances of making the 2009 World Cup qualifier in Dubai. He has played regularly in the national side since this year’s World Cup, with off-spinning rival Mohammed Kashif playing league cricket in England and apparently out of the running.

But the suspension means that he will miss the whole of the 2008 season, and with the qualifier scheduled for April 2009, he will have little or no opportunity to renew his claims before the squad is selected.