The Hindu : Sport : Panel absolves Sharma

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Panel absolves Sharma

K.P. Mohan

Sharma tested positive for abnormal levels of testosterone last February

NEW DELHI: Can an athlete undergo testosterone therapy, without a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE), but on the strength of medical prescriptions, compete, test positive and still get away?

Yes, if you take the case of weightlifter Pradeep Sharma who was recently reprieved by the Anti-Doping Disciplinary panel after testing positive for an abnormal testosterone reading.

Sharma tested positive at the National weightlifting championship in Udaipur in February last. He had finished third in the 77kg category there, totalling 299kg. The 32-year-old Punjab lifter was reported for a doping violation on March 16.

An Anti-Doping Disciplinary panel heard him on August 16. The panel gave its verdict on August 31.

Establishing grounds

“The athlete in our opinion has been able to establish grounds for elimination or reduction of period of ineligibility under Article 10.5.1 or Article 10.5.2,” stated the panel in its order.

Sharma did not contest the findings of the laboratory, which reported a T/E (testosterone-epitestosterone) ratio of 17:1. The allowable threshold is 4:1.

Sharma produced medical prescriptions and laboratory documents to claim that he was given certain medicines for “infertility”. He even brought his doctor to depose before the panel.

The panel stated: “No steroid has been found in the bodily specimen of the athlete. The substance found is susceptible to unintentional anti-doping rule violation because of its general availability in medicinal products which have been prescribed to the athlete for infertility.”

On the contrary, the presence of testosterone caused by an outside agent had been established beyond doubt through an IRMS study. By no yardstick can testosterone be categorized as “susceptible to unintentional anti-doping rule violations because of its general availability”.

Such a categorisation is normally confined to ‘specified substances' in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List which expressly excludes all steroids from this group.

No details

In the order, there is no record of the type of laboratory investigations Sharma had been put through and no details about his testosterone levels before and after treatment and about the medicines.

There is also no explanation about whether any alternative line of treatment was contemplated or whether it was absolutely essential to have testosterone therapy for managing “infertility”.

There is no confirmation about what Sharma's testosterone level is after the National and whether he would continue to benefit from testosterone therapy without a TUE for all times to come.

It is presumed there was no medical emergency required in this case since Sharma was reportedly taking the medicine for “a long time”.

Athletes are allowed to use prohibited substances on acquiring a TUE that is duly processed and approved by a TUE panel comprising doctors. The Indian TUE committee has received exemption applications from various athletes during the past months and dealt with them.

Sixth case

This is the sixth case in all, third for steroids, in which athletes charged with doping have been exonerated by the panels as against 75 suspensions since January, 2009.

The two other steroid cases, both for nandrolone, in which athletes were reprieved were those of judoka Parul Verma and wrestler Kavita Choudhary. Both 14-year-old girls, the panels were of the opinion that they could only have had a very limited knowledge about the medicines that were being prescribed by doctors unfamiliar with anti-doping rules. Their age came in for consideration when the panels decided their fate.

Sharma knew he was taking testosterone and he admitted to its use.

The NADA, on its part, has never questioned use of such steroids through medical prescriptions during hearings. The NADA is also yet to challenge any decision of the disciplinary panels to reprieve athletes in the Appeal panel. The deadline for an appeal by NADA in the Sharma case is over. The WADA still has time to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), if it chooses to.

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