Tim Paine slammed by SACA chief over Kagiso Rabada drug case comments: 'Lacks understanding'

There is controversy brewing ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final between South Africa and Australia. After former Australian captain Tim Paine criticised how South Africa handled Kagiso Rabada’s recent drug suspension , Andrew Breetzke, the CEO of the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA), has hit back.

Paine had slammed the handling of Rabada’s drug case, saying it was kept too quiet and fans deserved transparency. Breetzke has now called Paine’s comments “naive” and said the Aussie star clearly doesn’t understand how the drug testing process works in cricket.

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

What happened with Rabada?

Kagiso Rabada, one of South Africa’s best fast bowlers, had tested positive for a recreational drug, reportedly cocaine , during a routine doping test after a match in the SA20 league back in January. It was later revealed that the test showed traces of benzoylecgonine (BZE), a substance found in cocaine.

At the time, nothing was announced publicly. Rabada went on to play the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 with the Gujarat Titans and featured in two matches. Then, in early April, he left the tournament citing “personal reasons.” After that, it came to light that he had returned to South Africa to deal with his suspension.

Rabada served a one-month ban after attending a counselling program. He has since returned to the Titans’ camp but hasn’t played again yet.

What did Tim Paine say?

Speaking on SEN Radio, Tim Paine said the whole situation “stinks.” He added that Rabada’s IPL exit should have been made public as a drug-related issue instead of calling it a personal matter.

“It stinks. I don’t like this use around personal issues, and it 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,” Paine had said.

SACA defends the process

Responding to Paine’s comments, SACA boss Andrew Breetzke strongly defended both Rabada and the way the matter was handled. He said Rabada was honest and professional throughout, and the entire process followed strict rules under the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

“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 explained to SportsBoom in an exclusive conversation.

“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.