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Three more lifters test positive

Y.B. Sarangi

NEW DELHI: Three more weightlifters have tested positive in tests conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in Pune in the first week of September, leaving a question mark over the Indian weightlifting team’s participation in next year’s Commonwealth Games here.

The three lifters are: Harbhajan Singh of New Delhi, Rajesh Kumar of the Services, both belonging to the 94 kg category, and Vijayalaxmi Devi (69 kg) of Jharkhand.

Sources told The Hindu on Wednesday that the trio was tested by a WADA team that landed in Pune, unannounced, before the trials for the Commonwealth championships. All three could face a ban, upto four years under the revised rules of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

Harbhajan had set four records at the Junior National held in Raipur last month. Dope tests were not conducted at this meet, according to sources.

Concerned

More than the individual suspensions, the Indian Weightlifting Federation would be concerned about the sanctions that are likely to be imposed on it by the IWF since the latest numbers will add up to a total of four when one includes the ‘positive’ returned by another lifter, Vicky Batta, in the WADA test.

The IWF rules (2009) state that in case of three or more doping violations in a 12-month period in tests conducted by the IWF or anti-doping organisations other than the National federation or the concerned National Anti Doping Organisation, a National federation could be suspended from participating in any activities of the IWF for a period of up to two years.

Apart from the suspension, the federation could be fined at least $50,000, the conditions of payment to be decided by the IWF Executive Board.

The Executive Board will be the final authority to decide on the sanctions against a National federation and it may, at its discretion, impose all sanctions listed in the rules including suspensions against officials of National federations, or selective sanctions as decided by the Executive.

In the recent past, the IWF has allowed teams to compete in major international competitions by paying huge fines despite a whole complement of National teams testing positive. Apart from the regular sanctions, the Indian federation will have to pay $5,000 each for every ‘positive’ test returned by its lifters.

Further ‘positive’ tests by Indian lifters could lead to a situation where the country’s participation in the 2012 Olympics weightlifting competition could come into question.

Competitors who undergo suspensions for more than six months for an anti-doping rule violation would be banned from the next Olympics, according to a decision taken by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year.

Dark history

India has had two one-year suspensions since 2004 for anti-doping rule violations committed by its lifters. In 2004, two of its lifters — Pratima Kumari and Sanamacha Chanu — tested positive in the Olympics while Sunaina Anand turned in a ‘positive’ test at the Asian championships.

In 2006, Tejinder Singh and Edwin Raju tested positive at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games while Shailaja Pujari and B. Premelavalli were caught in tests conducted by the WADA. India paid a hefty fine to get the suspension reduced by half on the second occasion.

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