The Sports-India Community

Javelin thrower Davinder Singh may have taken ganja. That is why he was excluded from the government scheme. After he was excluded from the TOPS list, he has threatened a move to Italy. I think he will have to sit out for three years if he does so. We'll see if he is cleared or banned and then whether he is included in the TOPS scheme or not.

Now our horses are doping too!

prasen9 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 27, 2017 4:48 amNow our horses are doping too!

And we are not even taking part in anything good, let alone win any medals, in equestrian events. The last time that I remember us doing anything of note with our horses was at the Asiad in 1983 in Delhi! .... Man, we are so bad at doping that it is embarrassing. We keep getting caught, and we never win anything after all the doping. How pathetic are we?

Claims of anti-doping kits not being tamper-proof at Bhubaneshwar Don't know if it is true.

Tremendous progress. No Indian athlete failed the dope test at the National Open Athletics Championships. This good news made my day.

WADA wants NADA to dope-test cricketers. Rathore says do it. BCCI stalls. Let's see what happens. I would love NADA to dope test the cricketers.

And now the passionate kissing defense! Go figure.

prasen9 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 26, 2018 5:31 am And now the passionate kissing defense! Go figure.

Straight from the Gasquet playbook and of course, he gets away!

On a different note, here is an article by Sharda Ugra calling Indian women athletes to come out with the rampant sexual abuse cases. This certainly is the need of the hour.

Message to India's sportswomen: Call out your Nassars

- Varma

PS: I wasn't sure where else to post this, so I would request the moderators to move it as needed. Thanks!

Our two-time Commonwealth Games medalist Sanjita Chanu has tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid and has been provisionally suspended by IWF ... Sanjita had won the gold medal in the 53kg category at the Gold Coast Games and in 48kg in Glasgow Games four years ago ... The sample was taken during an out-of-competition test prior to the World Championship in Anaheim (US) in November last year.

I am innocent, will challenge suspension, says Sanjita Chanu

Sanjita Chanu first approached Manipur CM, then Manipur Governor and now she has appealed to PM to get her sample tested for DNA! She feels her sample has been switched in the US.
Meanwhile another 'sabotage' enquiry does not seem to be coming to a close. Narsingh Yadav's 'sabotage' allegation has been stuck with CBI for nearly two years.
One of the other 'sabotage' theories, that by shot putter Inderjeet Singh, was dismissed by a panel the other day. He was suspended for four years. The panel passed critical remarks against procedural errors by NADA and the lab but stopped short of reprieving the athlete.
Among the other prominent cases, discus thrower Arjun Singh, Youth Olympics silver winner in 2010, got four years for an offence in 2016.

While I want the dopers to be fully punished, the onus on proof should be on the NADA. Clearly, they mishandled the Inderjeet case. Someone who took the samples and sat on it at home is not following protocol. I do not think that the mishandling would change the result, but switching cannot be ruled out if you do not keep full, clear custody of the sample. This lackadaisical chalta-hai attitude of Indian administrators and enforcement people bothers me. Perhaps the right thing was done in Inderjeet not being let off. But, I would like to see serious action taken against those who mishandled the sample. Unless they are punished, this nonsense will keep happening and maybe at some point, someone with a vendetta will implicate an innocent sportsman using the loophole created by shoddy handling For those of you who want to know more, this article gives some idea of what the issue is: Inderjeet doping ban upheld. I would not mind him taking these fools to court.

On another note, discus thrower Arjun was banned for four years. Arjun case However, if you scroll down to the bottom of the article, you will find another case where someone was accused of evading a test when the tester came to the stadium after he had left and had not told him to wait! The idiot was possibly trying to get the blame off his (or her) back by blaming the wrestler.

We have to get our processes right and fool-proof. It is bad enough for clean athletes to have to compete against dopers. But, it is devastating to be branded a cheat over and above that when you are seeing others winning by cheating and you getting caught even if you are innocent! We need more dedication and vigilance on these matters.

It is true that NADA needs to improve its processes so as to make them foolproof and in line with WADA regulations. Unless WADA seriously steps in and pulls up the lab or NADA or both things may not improve.
As for "evasion", it is a tough task for the doping control officer when the athlete refuses to accept notification or refuses to appear before him/her after competition. For this you need full co-operation of federation officials. In most cases, DCOs seem to be not fully familiar with the processes required when an athlete refuses to take a notification. There is a provision in the rules (if I am not mistaken) to bring a charge of "refusal to accept notification" but this was probably not mentioned and the panel harped on the argument that the athlete was not even notified.
Even as we should be concerned about the inadequacies of the system both at the NADA and NDTL level, dopers try all tricks in the book including 'sabotage' theories and evasion. Look what is happening in Sanjita Chanu's case. She has now sought the intervention of the PM to get her sample DNA tested to find out whether it was her's! She feels samples have been switched in the US!

Mugundan wrote: ↑Wed Jul 18, 2018 2:39 am Look what is happening in Sanjita Chanu's case. She has now sought the intervention of the PM to get her sample DNA tested to find out whether it was her's! She feels samples have been switched in the US!

Now they have admitted that it was a mistake. Then what about her Asiad chances.

Tolamu wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 5:18 am

Mugundan wrote: ↑Wed Jul 18, 2018 2:39 am Look what is happening in Sanjita Chanu's case. She has now sought the intervention of the PM to get her sample DNA tested to find out whether it was her's! She feels samples have been switched in the US!

Now they have admitted that it was a mistake. Then what about her Asiad chances.

She remains suspended. Nothing has changed because of the admission by the IWF that there was an error in conveying the charge to her. That error was in a letter by the IWF. There is a different bottle code mentioned at one of the places. That does not mean her sample was switched or someone else's sample has been assigned to her. Unless it is established that the Doping Control Form code and the lab report code do not match, the validity of the sample and its report will remain. It is a different matter that a hearing panel might view all these errors seriously and may be lenient. Doubt it though.
Even if she was exonerated now, it is too late to think about Asian Games. The entry deadline was over on June 30. The IOA has since announced teh contingent.