Raising doubts on the possibility of foul play in the Narsingh Yadav doping scandal, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hinted the wrestler may have been “tricked or framed”, while asking the Union Sports Minister to look into the case. The athlete tested positive in the dope test of his B-sample. The wrestler vehemently denied the charges that were aimed at him and late Tuesday he made a complaint with the Police that his food was spiked by a 17-year-old teenaged wrestler who trains at the Delhi, Chhatrasal Stadium.
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Narsingh’s chances of participating in the upcoming Rio Olympics came under a cloud last Sunday when he returned a positive result for a dope test conducted by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) on June 25. Ever since traces of a banned steroid, metadienone, was found his urine sample by the national anti doping agency, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist has alleged it was a “conspiracy” against him.
“If Narsingh is proved innocent, we will have the category with us and will be able to fight his case to send him to Rio”.
Earlier in the day, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh confirmed that they had named Praveen Rana as a replacement for Narsingh.
The 26-year-old, however, had his Olympic berth in jeopardy when Sushil Kumar, who won bronze in the 66kg category in Beijing in 2008 and silver in London, moved up a weight and sought a court order for a bout between the pair to determine who should go to Rio. And one of them has admitted to spiking Narsingh’s food. This report will be helpful when Narsingh claims his innocence to the panel that he was sabotaged.
Earlier, Narsingh’s doping issue was also raised in the Parliament. “I don’t think any person is allowed to take the place of another if the original player has failed the dope test”, Goel told the media. Asked wasn’t it a concern that two athletes failed dope test ahead of the Olympics, Goel said: “Both Narsingh and Inderjeet are not new players”.
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But will Narsingh still make it to Rio?
