Press Trust of India
New Delhi, July 28: The suspense over wrestler Narsingh Yadav’s Olympic participation was prolonged further Thursday after the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) deferred its final verdict to Saturday or Monday at the end of a two-day hearing here.
A day after Narsingh and his lawyers presented their case on the failed dope test, which, according to them, was a conspiracy against the grappler, NADA’s legal team gave their arguments against the sabotage theory before the disciplinary committee.
“Hearing has been concluded today (Thursday). The judgment will come out either Saturday or Monday,” NADA’s lawyer Gaurang Kanth told reporters here.
“The argument put forth by NADA is that he’s not eligible for remission which he has been asking for because he has failed to establish that he did not commit any fault or negligence. And since he has not been able to establish how the banned substance had entered his
body, we argued that he should be given punishment.
“Narsingh did not produce the relevant circumstantial evidence that there could have been sabotage as had been claimed by his team. They filed an affidavit that his drinks or water was spiked but they did not produce the evidence to prove it to satisfy NADA or WADA code,” Kanth added.
The wrestler, who has alleged the involvement of fellow grapplers in the conspiracy, has already been replaced by Parveen Rana in the Olympic bound squad but will be reinstated if he gets a favourable verdict from NADA.
NADA’s lawyer, however, pointed out Narsingh’s claims of conspiracy or sabotage are not backed by sufficient proof and hence his chances of him going to Rio are very ‘remote’.
“We argued that the requirements of due diligence and care which was needed to escape from punishment was not provided as to satisfy the WADA code. So we said he should be given punishment as appropriate this panel thinks fit. We pointed out that as an international athlete he should have taken proper care about his food and drinks. But from what he had produced before the panel there was nothing to prove due care on his or his team’s part,” Kanth told reporters
