Topic: News: Indian Lifters Test Positive Again and Again

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Respite for IWF, deadline for fine payment extended

In a respite to cash-strapped Indian Weightlifting Federation, the international body has extended the deadline for payment of the last two installments of a doping fine amounting to a whopping $3,75,000.

IWF were to pay $1 lakh and $2,75,000 as third and fourth installments by July 15 and August 15 respectively but with the money still to be arranged from the Indian Olympic Association and the government, it had requested the international body to extend the deadline.

International Weightlifting Federation has agreed to the request and has now asked India to pay the two installments by August 31 failing which the country would be barred from fielding its lifters in the October 3-14 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

India will also not be allowed in the World Championships in Turkey from September 17 to 26 if the fine is not paid.

India was slapped a $5 lakh fine after six lifters flunked out-of-competition WADA tests in September last year.

"We have received a letter from the International Weightlifting Federation and we have been asked to pay $3,75,000 (Rs 1.77 crore approximately) by August 31. If we fail then we will not be allowed to take part in the Commonwealth Games," IWF President Birendra Prasad Baishya said. Baishya said he has asked for Rs 1 crore each from the IOA and the Sports Ministry as interest free loan and the response from both has been positive.

"We have asked IOA and Sports Ministry for around Rs 1 crore interest free loan. IOA has assured me help and the response from the Sports Ministry has also been positive," he said.

"Our lifters will get 12 to 14 medals in the Commonwealth Games. If we don't pay the fine by August 31, the country will have to miss the medals," he added.

IWF paid the first installment of $50,000 in January before the South Asian Games in Bangladesh and the second installment of $75,000 before the April 4 deadline which allowed the lifters to take part in the Asian Youth and Junior Championships at Tashkent from April 7-16.

[Jack Dluzen]

EEEEHHH,  it probably will be  paid chris... and they will be allowed to lift ., it will be interesting to see what happens   

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

My guess is it won't be paid on these deadlines and they will be allowed to lift anyway. It will indeed be interesting.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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IWF fine: Ministry seeks IOA intervention

The Union Sports Ministry has written to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to intervene in the matter of the fine imposed by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) on the Indian federation and the latter's predicament with the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games round the corner.

The Indian federation, imposed a fine of $5,00,000 by the IWF for returning six positive dope tests by its lifters in September last year, has so far paid $1,25,000. The balance, amounting to approximately Rs. 1.77 crore, has to be paid before the Commonwealth Games for the host to field a team in the Games.

In its letter to the IOA President, Suresh Kalmadi, the ministry has stated that the IOA should take up the matter with the IWF in order to facilitate the participation of the Indian weightlifters who had been training hard with an eye on the Games.

“You will agree that the avoidable incidents that have led to a fine being imposed on the Federation should not have consequences on innocent weightlifters as well as (the) newly-formed body that is trying hard to improve performance in weightlifting,” says the ministry letter.

The ministry is not in a position to help the Indian federation since it would amount to encouraging doping.

The federation officials have been quoted earlier as saying the IOA had bailed it out initially by advancing the amount to pay off part of the fine that enabled Indian teams to compete in the South Asian Games and the World youth championships.

Now, with time running out and with an August 31 IWF deadline, the federation is desperate. The ministry wants the IOA to pursue all possibilities including taking up the matter with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) so that the country can look forward to claiming around 10-12 medals in the Commonwealth Games.

Last time, in Melbourne, India bagged nine medals including three golds. It had two dope positive cases in Melbourne — Edwin Raju and Tejinder Singh — the same as in the previous Games in Manchester.

INDIA'S DUBIOUS RECORD

India's dubious record in major games also included two “positive” cases, both weightlifters, reported at the Athens Olympics. The country has had two suspensions of a year each in weightlifting since 2004 because of its doping violations and was lucky to escape with a fine this year when six lifters tested positive in an out-of-competition test conducted by the IWF at Pune.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Indian lifters face Games doubt over unpaid fine

NEW DELHI: Indian weightlifters remain unsure of their participation at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in October as the country's federation struggles to cover an unpaid fine for repeated doping offences.

After six lifters failed drugs tests last year, the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) was handed a $500,000 fine by the international body and face suspension from global competition if the amount is not cleared in full by the end of this month.

IWF secretary general Sahdev Yadav said the federation had paid $125,000 of the fine to date but was banking on the sports ministry and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to bail them out by making up the shortfall.

"Our lifters will not be allowed to compete if we don't pay the remaining $375,000 by August 31. We have approached the sports ministry and the IOA and we are confident we can make the payment before the deadline," Yadav said on Wednesday.

"Our lifters have really good prospects and I'm expecting 14 medals, including five gold, from the Games. We are aiming for second place in the medal tally but if our lifters don't get to compete, we would slip to the seventh or eighth.

"We are yet to hear from either the sports ministry or IOA but we do not foresee a Games in Delhi without Indian lifters."

The federation has named a 15-member contingent, including a reserve lifter, for the October 3-14 Games and the list includes Monika Devi, who returns after serving a two-year ban for doping.

Doping has been a recurring problem with the IWF, which was slapped with a one-year ban by the International Weightlifting Federation in 2006.

India's men and women hockey teams may also miss the Games over a dispute between the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the sports ministry, who are backing rival groups to run the sport in the country.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Who wants to abet doping?
By K. P. MOHAN

Who will pay the fine to help the Indian weightlifters compete in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games?

The Union Sports Ministry wants the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to resolve the matter quickly. It is not easy for the IOA, however. It recently sought the views of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the issue and was told that a National Olympic Committee (NOC) should not be seen to be aiding a federation that was fighting a disciplinary sanction. “We have been told by the IOC not to get involved in this because it would amount to abetting,” IOA Secretary-General Randhir Singh told The Hindu on Monday.

The IOA had more or less decided to pay up and bail out the Indian Weightlifting Federation last month before the ethical question came to the fore and the IOC's views were sought and obtained. The Union Sports Ministry has written a second time in two months to the IOA urging it to resolve the issue of fine imposed by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) on the Indian federation for turning in six “positive” doping cases last year.

Out of the fine of $5,00,000 imposed by the IWF, India is yet to pay $3,75,000 apart from individual fines and ‘B' sample testing charges amounting to $31,000 (total of Rs 1.89 crore).

The money has to be paid by August 31 for the Indian weightlifting team to be eligible to compete in the Commonwealth Games and subsequently the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

The ministry, in its letter sent on Monday, noted that the IOA had been actively engaged in discussions with the IWF over the matter and because of its intervention the latter had agreed to defer the payment schedule from July 15 to August 31.

“You have also informed us that IOA is deciding on ways and means to assist Indian federation to comply with its obligations to the world body,” the letter noted.

In her letter to the IOA President, Suresh Kalmadi, the Secretary, Sports, Sindhushree Khullar, pointed out that the deadline was fast approaching and the IOA needed to resolve the matter immediately in order to ensure India's participation in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.

The Government does not want to pay the fine and bail out the Indian federation lest it should be seen as abetting doping at a time when it is supposed to be fully backing the efforts of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) in curbing the menace.

The Government is, however, sympathetic towards the cause of the weightlifters who have trained hard during the past year to be able to put up a good show at home.

[Jack Dluzen]

maybe  the  u.s. govt. will help them since were dishing out all the  money to all the other country's wats another 500 million.... !!!   everyone call your reps. and tell them to send money to help pay for indias lifters!  

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

That wouldn't surprise me much Jack, anymore than funding Hamas, Pakistan, and most of the rest of obama's charity with other people's money does.