Press Trust of India
Rio de Janeiro, August 19: In a stunning reversal of fortunes, Indian wrestler Narsingh Yadav was ousted from the Olympics and slapped with a four-year ban for flunking a dope test after CAS overturned the clean chit given to him by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA)
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had appealed against the NADA all-clear to Narsingh at CAS, three days ahead of his scheduled opening bout at the Olympics.
“…the parties were informed that the application was upheld, that Narsingh Yadav was sanctioned with a four-year ineligibility period starting today (Thursday) and that any period of provisional suspension or ineligibility effectively served by the athlete before the entry into force of this award shall be credited against the total period of ineligibility to be served,” CAS said in a statement after the hearing, which lasted four hours Thursday night.
“Furthermore, all competitive results obtained by Narsingh Yadav from and including 25 June 2016 shall be disqualified, with all resulting consequences (including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes). The CAS panel did not accept the argument of the athlete that he was the victim of sabotage and noted that there was no evidence that he bore no fault, nor that the anti-doping rule violation was not intentional. Therefore the standard four-year period of ineligibility was imposed by the panel,” it added.
The verdict marked a painful end to the sordid controversy which began with the wrestler failing a June 25 test.
The 27-year-old’s name had appeared in the official Olympic schedule after he underwent the mandatory weigh-in. He was to take on France’s Zelimkhan Khadjiev in the qualification round Friday but the CAS verdict all his hopes.
Later on the Indian wrestler stated in a statement that he would continue his fight to prove his innocence.
“To say I am devastated at the decision of CAS would be putting it mildly. I have gone through so much over the last two months off the mat but the thought of fighting for the glory of the nation at the Games had kept me going. My dream of competing and winning the country a medal at the Rio Olympics has been cruelly snatched away from me twelve hours before my first bout,” Narsingh stated.
“But I will do everything it takes to prove my innocence. It is all I have left to fight for,” he added.
IOA, WFI continue to support wrestler
Taking up cudgels on behalf of wrestler Narsingh Yadav after CAS overturned the clean chit given to him by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) blamed unnamed compatriots for his ouster from the Olympics and the four-year ban slapped on him.
“It’s not just a loss for Narsingh at the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sports) but he was beaten by his compatriots who did not want to let him compete at the Olympics and not by his opponents,” IOA secretary-general Rajeev Mehta stated here Friday.
Mehta was part of the four-hour-long hearing here and the verdict marked a painful end to the sordid controversy which began with the wrestler failing a June 25 test.
“The picture is clear and neither I nor anyone has to say who’s done the foul play. If you go back, you can easily connect the dots and would clearly know who could be the suspect. As of now, the culprits have been successful in stopping him from the Olympics, though we may challenge the order and minimise the ban,” Mehta added.
Meanwhile the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) said that it was the body’s failure to convince CAS about Narsingh’s innocence led to the wrestler’s ban.
“The panel was not talking about Narsingh’s allegation, they were all through asking why hadn’t he been punished. They, to an extent had made up their mind that Narsingh was guilty,” WFI president Brij Bhusan Sharan informed reporters here. “They were already having the notion that Narsingh is guilt.”