Wrestler fails drug test but this won’t open door for Sushil
MAJOR LOW Too late to make change in squad; wrestler’s complaint alleging sabotage forwarded to government
NEW DELHI: India’s Rio Olympics preparations plunged into a crisis on Sunday after 74kg freestyle wrestler and a medal prospect, Narsingh Yadav, was provisionally suspended for six months for failing a dope test.
The 26-year-old grappler tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid. National Anti-Doping Agency director general Navin Agarwal said both the A and B urine samples of Narsingh, who was tested on July 5, had tested positive. He was present when the ‘B’ sample was tested, and then appeared before the NADA disciplinary panel on Saturday.
Narsingh was a high-profile member of India’s record contingent, having won a protracted battle with double Olympic medallist, Sushil Kumar, who had unsuccessfully challenged his exclusion from the squad in court.
However, it is unlikely that Sushil will go as replacement as the deadline for sending his name was over.
Narsingh cried foul. “This is a conspiracy against me. I have never taken any banned substance,” he said. The Mumbai-based wrestler, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, was training at the national camp at the Sports Authority of India’s centre in Sonepat, Haryana.
Narsingh had won the Olympic quota for India by winning a bronze in the world championships in Las Vegas last November. The federation decided to send him, refusing to hold trials with Sushil.
Sushil waded into the controversy on Sunday with a cryptic tweet: “Respect is to be earned not demanded.”
NEW DELHI: Narsingh Yadav’s doping infringement that rules him out of the Olympics doesn’t mean Sushil Kumar, the country’s most successful individual Olympian, gets a shot at the Rio Games.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has rejected the idea of naming a replacement in the 74kg category should NADA’s antidoping disciplinary panel penalise Narsingh with a ban.
“There is no question of naming Narsingh’s replacement. We are only waiting for the final verdict in the case,” WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh told HT on Sunday.
Singh said the onus will be on the ‘conspirators’ if India goes unrepresented. “Those responsible for this dope shame will have to answer if we fail to field a wrestler in Rio in this weight category.”
WRITTEN COMPLAINT
The WFI president said Narsingh has filed a written complaint. “In a written complaint he has claimed that he has been framed. We have forwarded it to the Government of India, which is probing the matter. People who are involved may think that Narsingh’s dope test is a small matter, but it is not. We will see to it that those who have conspired for this failed dope test will pay heavily,” Singh said.
Sushil’s name wouldn’t have gone as a replacement even otherwise once the window for the last date of sport entries closed on July 18.
Interestingly, sources have raised doubts about WFI’s motives, alleging that it came to know of Narsingh’s failed test by July 17. It waited for July 18 to pass to ward off any pressure from Sushil’s camp. But the WFI chief said he got to know of the matter only on July 19.
This perhaps ended Sushil’s last hope. Since Sushil’s name wasn’t mentioned in the probables list sent to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) by the WFI, it ruled him out.
The International Olympic Committee rule states that only those names sent as part of the tentative list will be entertained as per its late athlete replacement policy. The WFI, sources said, has sent Jitender’s name as cover in the 74kg category.
“The NOC of the replacement athlete had applied successfully for accreditation for the athlete prior to 29 April (accreditation application deadline). As such, the replacement athlete has been registered by Rio 2016 in “NOC’s athlete accreditation long list”, the rule states.
The public spat between the federation officials and Sushil over his demand to hold trials has also dented any outside chance he has of going to Rio. The WFI denied Sushil trials to stake claim for the Rio slot. Sushil petitioned the Delhi high court but it ruled that Yadav had already qualified for the Games. ‘WE WILL SEE’ Sushil’s mentor and father-inlaw, Satpal, rubbished rumours he had engineered this dope shocker. “I would have ensured that the federation agreed to our demands of holding trials, if I had the clout that many say I have. He flunked a test and all this talk that he is being framed is an attempt to deflect attention from that. As a senior athlete he should have taken all precautions. It is shameful to hear that such a senior athlete has been caught. Wrestling’s stature in India has been hurt,” Satpal told HT.
When asked whether Sushil was ready to represent India if the situation arises, he said the WFI and the sports ministry will have to decide. “It’s up to them. We will only think about it if we are approached by the federation or the ministry.”