Topic: News: Indian Lifters Test Positive Again and Again

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Defeat, dope damn India's day
By Alok Sinha

The Indian contingent got an embarrassing wake-up call here on Thursday morning that brought the euphoria of Rajyavardhan Rathore's silver medal to an abrupt end. The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) shocked all Indians here, first by announcing that Pratima Kumari (who did not take the stage for her event on Wednesday) had tested positive for testosterone. And then, by saying that one more of India's three other lifters had also tested positive for a banned drug.

They would not name the lifter, but for once, Indian officials moved quickly. At a press conference shortly after the IWF announcement, India's deputy chef-de-mission Harish Sharma came clean. Sanamacha Chanu, who had finished fourth in her category had tested positive, he said. She is a repeat offender who now faces a life ban.

And there could be worse news yet for the Indian contingent: Karnam Malleswari's test results are due any day now.

Before the Indian contingent left for Athens, the Hindustan Times had reported that two members of the contingent, possibly a lifter and an athlete, had tested positive and said that officials would find some way of suppressing the results. The Sports Ministry and Sports Authority on India (SAI) had aggressively denied the report, saying it brought shame to the country and was anti-national.

But now, the cover-up has been blown.

The IWF release said: "The IWF has subjected all the 260 athletes who qualified for the Olympics to an out-of-competition doping control ... the laboratory returned an adverse analytical finding for the following: Ammouri Wafa (Morocco), C. Victor (Moldova), K. Zoltan (Hungary), Pratima Kumari (India) and Sule Sahbaz (Turkey)."

In accordance with the IWF anti-doping policy, the five have been provisionally suspended.

Indian deputy chef-de-mission Harish Sharma, who had said on Wednesday that Pratima had withdrawn from competition because of a "back problem", said on Thursday that she had tested positive for the steroid testosterone.

Asked why he lied the previous day, he said he couldn't tell the media about the positive test since it had not been officially announced by the IWF.

The plot thickened, however, when reports said Pratima left for India on the morning of August 16, even though Sharma said Indian officials were informed of the positive dope test at night the same day.

Officials still maintain that she left before the result because of a back problem and would not have competed anyway.

To make matters worse, Sharma said he had not disclosed that Pratima was back in India because no one had asked him about her whereabouts.

The issue has all the hallmarks of a massive cover-up by the Indian sports authorities and has been handled in typically amateurish fashion. They have laid the blame solely with the lifter, saying she did not inform the coach about anything she was taking. But that makes no sense.

What makes even less sense is that Pratima was tested twice in the recent past and cleared both times. First by the World Anti-Doping Association in Minsk in mid-July (which was more than a month ago).

The second test was by the Sports Authority of India's labs in the first week of August. How she cleared that (so close to her positive test), is anybody's guess.

Sharma said India would request a B sample test but added it was up to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). IOA president Suresh Kalmadi had earlier said, "I have heard about it. I can only comment after I get all the information."

This was shortly before all Indian sports officials here suddenly became incommunicado.

This positive test has raised several questions about Indian officials' seriousness in tackling the menace of doping. It has also raised questions about SAI's dope laboratory in New Delhi.

The chief of the Indian Weightlifting Federation, Balbir Bhatia, had said three weeks ago:

"We do not want an embarrassment on our hands." Bhatia, who is here as a technical delegate, will be looking for the nearest corner to hide.

[Shaun Le Conte]

While the publish date of that article in the Hindustan Times states March 1, 2007, the article was written during the 2004 Olympics. This mixing up of the time line is confusing.

[Shaun Le Conte]

from http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/04/stories/2007080457131900.htm today's e-paper

IWF pays up fine

NEW DELHI: The Indian Weightlifting Federation has finally managed to pay up the last instalment of the $50,000 fine imposed by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) last year following positive dope tests returned by four Indian lifters.

The payment of $25,000 made, a month after the deadline of June 30, has paved the way for India’s participation in the Olympic qualifying World championship to be held in Thailand.

“We collected money from various sources and paid up the fine. Otherwise we would not have been allowed to take part in the World championships,” said the Indian federation Secretary, Balbir Singh Bhatia, on Friday. The IWF had initially imposed a one-year suspension and fine but lifted the ban last October and asked the federation to pay the fine. Fifty per cent of the fine was paid early this year. As June 30 approached, the Indian federation had sought an extension of the deadline, which was granted.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Delhi High Court lifts IWF ban on Anita Kumari

New Delhi, September 28  The Delhi High Court today lifted a suspension imposed on national weightlifter Anita Kumari by the Indian Weightlifting Federation. Anita was banned after she tested positive in a dope test during the Senior National Championships in December last year.

Justice S K Kaul has also allowed her to be part of the national training camp, after acquiescing to the weightlifter’s request to nullify the results of the earlier reports.

Following allegations made by Anita that the IWF had not followed World Anti-Doping Agency’s rules while taking her samples, Justice Kaul directed that the tests must be conducted again at the WADA accreditated laboratory in Malaysia within three months and the entire expense should be borne by the IWF.

The Jharkhand weightlifter, who won two gold medals and a silver in the 58 kg category at the Senior National Championships last year, had filed a petition through her counsel Keshav Mohan challenging the suspension order passed in January.

It remains to be seen whether the IWF will be able to include her for the next senior national camp to be held in Patiala or Bangalore, before the results of her test arrive from Malaysia. Some of the top lifters had recently participated in world meet.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Indian anti-doping set-up on right track

NEW DELHI: The Indian anti-doping set-up was on the right track, but it would be crucial for the authorities to have a complete programme in place by the time Delhi hosts the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) Director General David Howman expressed this opinion here on Sunday, the concluding day of the two-day symposium on anti-doping in sports organized by the Union Sports Ministry and the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

Though there were shortcomings at present, things could be sorted out once the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) became functional, Mr. Howman said.

He said WADA was willing to guide the Indian authorities through the process and the latter were already getting expert advice from UK Sport which looks after anti-doping matters in Britain.

Asked about the case of weightlifter Satish Rai who tested positive for a steroid at the National Games in Guwahati last February and is still awaiting a final decision from the Indian Weightlifting Federation about his suspension, Mr. Howman said he would take up the matter with the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

The Indian federation had referred the matter to the IWF since it was not sure whether to impose a life ban or a two-year suspension on Rai. The issue was to have been discussed with the IWF during the World championships at Chiang Mai, Thailand, last month, but that did not happen.

Rai had tested positive for stimulant strychnine at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002. Since a stimulant attracted only a six-month suspension then, apart from disqualification, the Indian federation was unsure about the life ban for a second violation, and hence referred it to the IWF. However, the matter has remained unresolved for the past three months.

[Ryan Lapadat]

First off I would like to thank Chris on bringing us all this information time and time again.

I think this substance abuse has to be dealt with with the highest of measures. I don't see why life time bans are so rare. I also don't see why not banning countries. May be its cause every country is dirty, and so is the vast majority of athletes. Not leaving us much, or leaving us hypocritical. Its actually kind of depressing. I don't even want to think that some of our past heroes are tainted.

Realistic or not, I say ban them for life and suspend the country for 5 years. I am sick of this.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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India could end up with just one quota place
By K.P. Mohan

NEW DELHI: Having been ranked 25th in the women’s placings and 51st in the men’s list on the combined points tally for the 2006 and 2007 World championships, Indian weightlifting might end up with just one quota place for the Beijing Olympics in case the country can gain that slot through the Asian championships next year.

As was expected, India failed to gain a quota place after last month’s World championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand that happened to be the last qualification meet at the global level. Now, a country can only hope to get a berth through the continental qualification, individual qualification or invitation places.

The Indian women gained 59 points from the Chiang Mai championships, amounting to 70.8 qualification points, and since the country missed last year’s championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, because of doping-related suspension, its total points from the two meets remained the same. The two-member men’s team collected 9.6 qualification points.

Next attempt

Only the top 17 teams in the women’s section and top 27 teams in the men’s section were eligible for quota places from the two World championships. India’s next qualification attempt will have to come from the Asian championships in Ishikawa, Japan, from April 27 to May 1 next year. There, a country that has not gained an Olympic berth through the World championships will be entitled to a quota place if it finishes among the top four teams in the women’s section (one berth each) and top five in the men’s section (two berths each for first two and one each for others).

With the top Asian countries in the women’s section, Thailand, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Japan, North Korea and Chinese Taipei, apart from host China, having already gained qualification slots, the race for Beijing in the Asian meet will be confined to lesser ranked teams including India.

Among the non-qualifiers in the women’s section, Vietnam finished ahead of India in Chiang Mai and could be expected to figure high in the standings in the Asian meet. Other non-qualifiers which could challenge India in the Asian meet could be Indonesia, Myanmar and Hong Kong.

Unenviable task

The Indian men, with no standing at the world level, will have the unenviable task of trying to achieve a top-five team standing in the Asian meet with countries like Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Qatar, Vietnam and Syria among those vying for continental qualification places.

Individual qualification slots (seven places among women and eight among men), limited to the top 10 among women and top 15 among men, based on Olympic ranking points, calculated on the performances in World championships, continental championships and designated IWF events, will only be available for a country that would not have any qualifier through the World or continental meets.

The last hope for a country could be the invitation places allotted by the tripartite commission based on requests made by National Olympic Committees.

There could be a total of around six berths among men and four among women under this quota.

Weightlifting, one of only five sports to have provided an Olympic medal for India (bronze through Karnam Malleswari at the 2000 Sydney Olympics) has been hit by a series of doping scandals in recent years, leading to two suspensions of the country apart from several individual suspensions.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Anita’s B sample to be sent for test
By Navneet Singh

New Delhi, October 16  Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has decided not to pursue the case of lifter Anita Kumari further in court. It will send her B sample to the WADA-accredited lab in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“We have to abide by court orders. And the B sample will be sent to the accredited lab as soon as possible,” IWF secretary Balbir Singh Bhatia said about the doping issue.

The B sample is at the SAI lab, where Anita’s A sample was tested. The result was positive, after which the IWF had banned her. But Anita then went to court, alleging that the IWF had not followed proper procedures when her samples were collected in December 2006, during the national meet.

Regarding the B sample, says the IWF official, Anita has been informed about the recent developments. The B sample will be sealed in the presence of the lifter or her representative, added Bhatia.

The IWF dilemma doesn’t end here. According to the court orders, the expenses for the tests to be done in Kuala Lumpur will have to be borne by it. The court had further ordered that if the B sample result came to be negative, the IWF will have to bear all the expenses incurred by the lifter for the case.

The lifter, says Bhatia, has also given an undertaking that if the result of the B sample is positive, then she will pay for the expenses.

According to an official of the SAI, it’s not known whether lifter or her representative will also go to Malaysia to ensure that the sample is not tampered with before it reaches the laboratory.