The wrestling fraternity was in for a shock after learning about ace wrestler Narsingh Yadav’s positive dope test for a banned steroid.
Following Narsingh’s positive test for methandienone, there was speculation over what would happen to the 74kg freestyle quota place in case the wrestler was held guilty of an anti-doping rule violation by the National Anti-Doping Agency Disciplinary panel.
If found guilty, Narsingh may serve a four-year suspension, as per the 2015 anti-doping code.
Narsingh was in the news a few months back because of his feud with two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar over the 74kg Olympic quota place.
Narsingh had qualified for the Olympics by winning a World championship bronze medal while Sushil demanded a trial between him and Narsingh to ascertain who would represent the country in that particular weight category.
With the Wrestling Federation of India sticking to the tradition of sending quota place winning wrestlers to the Olympics, Sushil moved the Delhi High Court over the issue. The issue was settled after the court ruled in favour of Narsingh.
However, there were threats to the Mumbai-based Narsingh at the national camp at Sonepat, causing the Sports Authority of India and the WFI to bring the matter to the notice of the Haryana Police.
Following Narsingh’s positive result, strong rumours did the rounds about his food supplements being sabotaged. The theory gained ground with Narsingh coming out to claim foul-play against him.
The possibility of Narsingh’s food supplements containing banned substances came as a surprise to many as he and a few other Olympic-bound wrestlers procure them from the same source through an identical route.
It is believed that the NADA disciplinary panel has ordered Narsingh’s food supplement to be tested in an accredited lab.
The WFI is tight-lipped on how it will deal with the situation if Narsingh is found guilty.
India is likely to forego its 74kg freestyle slot in the Olympics since the deadline for the submission of entries expired on July 18.
In 2008, weightlifter Monika Devi was withdrawn from the contingent for the Beijing Olympics hours before departure from New Delhi following a positive result and her slot at the Games was left vacant.
