Topic: News: Indian Lifters Test Positive Again and Again

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Shailaja claims innocence, says rightful candidature

NEW DELHI, July 9:  Accused of bribing her way to the Beijing Olympics, weightlifter Shailaja Pujari on Wednesday broke her silence by dismissing charges of corruption and claiming that she was the "right candidate" for the Games.

She also said selecting any other weightlifter in her place for the competition would be the violation of the rules of International Weightlifting Federation.

Shailaja, who has served out a two-year ban for a doping offence, has been alleged to have paid a bribe of Rs five lakh to the Indian Weightlifting Secretary BR Gulati for her selection ahead of Monika Devi.

The alleged bribe scandal prompted the Sports Ministry to inquire into the incident and direct the IWF to send Monika Devi for the Games.

Shailaja said she was shocked to learn that Sports Ministry had recommended Monika (69kg), who was far behind her in trials conducted by the IWF after the International Weightlifting Federation had awarded the quota to India for points earned by a team and not an individual during the Senior Asian Championships in Kanazawa City, Japan, in April.

In a letter to Andhra Pradesh General Secretary L Venkatram Reddy, she wrote that since the quota was earned by the Indian team, the final selection had to be done through trials in which she proved herself as the best.

"I am the rightful candidate to be sent to the Olympics 2008 and sending any other weightlifter shall be a blatant mistake and against the laid rules of the IWF," Shailaja said.

Shalaja said she had stood first in the trials and proved her eligibility by giving the best performance in the trials in Pune which was based on the IWF rules but was ready for re-trials.

"I also appeal to you to conduct selection trials in your presence at any place at any given time so that I prove my better ability and be rightful candidate for the entry to the Olympic Games. I beg your intervention in this regard and justice to me and the sport," she said.

Shailaja said she was stunned to see the Government suggest Monika's name ahead of her for the top competition.

"I was shocked to see in papers that Monika Devi (69kg), who was far behind me in the Sinclair formula and in current world rankings, was recommended for selection by the Sports Ministry to be send to the Beijing Olympics Games," she said.

Explaining the selection, Shailaja said since it was team quota, trials were the best way to select a candidate's name.

"The single Olympic berth was provided for our country by the IWF on the points we (Indian Women Weightlifting team) acquired at the Senior Asian Championships, Kanazawa City, Japan, in the last week of April,2008," Shailaja said.

"The Indian team had stood fourth position of non qualified nations and awarded one Olympic berth for which the Indian Federation shall conduct trials and select the best women weightlifter for sending to the Olympic games 2008. It is not because of any one weightlifter but for the team performance of the whole Indian team we got the berth."

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Indian federation reprieves Satish Rai

NEW DELHI: In a startling decision, the Indian Weightlifting Federation has reprieved Satish Rai without even a two-year suspension for his anti-doping rule violation in the National Games at Guwahati last year. The Indian federation Secretary, B.R. Gulati, said on Wednesday that Rai had given an undertaking that he would not be participating in any National competitions in future and thus any ban on him had become irrelevant.

“He made a representation through his lawyer and we — the President, myself and other Executive members — decided not to impose any ban,” said Gulati.

The letter to Rai, reprieving him, was given last month at a time the federation President, Harbhajan Singh, was telling the media that he was seeking legal opinion on the matter.

“The (IWF) President, under his condonation powers, has decided to close the issue as redundant and irrelevant in view of your assurance, notwithstanding merits of the case and your submissions,” said an IWF letter, dated June 13 and signed by its General Secretary B.R. Gulati, according to a PTI report.

Asked whether the committee appointed by the federation President had given its verdict, Gulati said that it was also involved in the final decision.

Second violation

Rai was facing a life ban since the Guwahati offence happened to be his second violation, the first one having come at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002. That was for a stimulant while the National Games infraction was for a steroid.

Unable to understand the case, because of the 2002 stimulant that attracted only a six-month suspension, and with little help coming from the International Weightlifting Federation, which was approached to clear the air, the Indian federation dithered over its decision, keeping Rai under provisional suspension.

Gulati contended that the WADA rules stipulating a life ban for a second offence came into effect only from January 2004 and earlier rules did not attract life ban for a second offence. He also argued that a pre-2004 violation could not be considered for a life ban.

Gulati also stressed that his federation had got clarifications from WADA and the latter was in agreement with the interpretation made by his federation.

The federation Secretary also claimed that the IOA was also of the opinion that the matter of Rai should be closed and “we should steer clear of further controversies.” The IOA had disqualified Rai, as it had done with eight others who tested positive at Guwahati, and recommended further action by the federation.

Unheard of

A sportsperson being exonerated for a doping offence in this manner is unheard of. Life bans should be applicable to any second offence, barring cases that come under ‘specified substances’ and substances that are no longer prohibited. The first offence need not be post-2004.

Reeling under regular anti-doping rule violations, suspensions by the IWF and allegations by a foreign coach in recent times about doping being rampant in India, the latest step by the Indian federation should attract further international attention.

The manner in which woman lifter Shailaja Pujari was brought back for the Asian championships in Japan, the inordinate delay in resolving the case of another lifter, Anita Kumari, who was also charged with a doping violation, and the new interpretations of rules now being given will come into focus in the coming days.

The Indian federation has also reprieved Tejinder Singh, one of the two lifters who tested positive at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. That was his second offence, though the first one was in a domestic competition and the tests were done in the non-accredited Delhi laboratory.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Rai gets away scot-free
- Shailaja pleads innocence

New Delhi: The Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF), it seems, is on a mission to reinstate doped tainted lifters.

After selecting controversial lifter Shailaja Pujari for the Beijing Olympics, the IWF has now decided to let off Satisha Rai without any punishment for his second dope offence.

Both Shailaja and Satisha Rai have a history of taking drugs and were banned twice. While Shailaja was banned in 2000 and 2003, Satisha Rai tested positive in 2002 Commonwealth Games and 2007 National Games in Guwahati.

Under the latest IWF dope policy, any lifter who tests positive for the second time for stimulants or steroids at international or domestic competitions should be banned for life.

In this case, the IWF has let off Satisha on the ground that the lifter has already retired and has contributed a lot to the sport.

While the IWF sources said that the lifter has been let off by the president of the federation, Harbhajan Singh, who used his powers, a senior IWF official said that the president has no such authority to pardon a dope tainted lifter.

“This is a clear case of violation of rules,” he said. “The three-member committee, which took the decision, was certainly under pressure from a section of the top brass,” the official alleged.

PTI adds: Pujari Wednesday broke her silence by dismissing charges of corruption and claiming that she was the “right candidate” for the Games. She also said selecting any other weightlifter in her place for the competition would be the violation of the rules.

Shailaja has been alleged to have paid a bribe of Rs 5 lakh to the IWF secretary B. R. Gulati for her selection ahead of Monika Devi. The alleged bribe scandal prompted the sports ministry to inquire into the incident and direct the IWF to send Monika for the Games.

Shailaja said she was shocked to learn that sports ministry had recommended Monika (69kg), who was far behind her in the trials.

In a letter to Andhra Pradesh general secretary L Venkatram Reddy, she wrote that since the quota was earned by the Indian team, the final selection had to be done through trials in which she proved herself as the best.

“I am the rightful candidate to be sent to the Olympics 2008 and sending any other weightlifter shall be a blatant mistake and against the laid rules of the IWF,” Shailaja said.

“I also appeal to you to conduct selection trials in your presence at any place at any given time so that I prove my better ability and be rightful candidate for the entry to the Olympic Games. I beg your intervention in this regard and justice to me and the sport,” she said.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Lifting fed chief's action questioned

Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) president Harbhajan Singh has kicked off a storm by letting off dope-tainted weightlifter Satheesha Rai without any punishment as some of his senior colleagues questioned his powers to condone the Karnataka iron man.

IWF vice-president G.R. Beig, who was also the chairman of the anti-doping committee that probed Rai's second doping offence, said he was not aware of any powers vested in the president to condone a drug offender under the IWF constitution. He was also surprised at Rai being let off even before the inquiry committee could complete its work and submit its final report.

"How can the president let off Satheesha Rai? As far as I know there is nothing called condonation powers and that, too, when the inquiry was incomplete," a furious Beig told IANS on Thursday.

"Three months back I had submitted an interim report to the president Harbhajan Singh saying that we need to question Sports Authority of India's (SAI) Dr. Ashok Ahuja, who was with Rai for a long time. How can the president let him off without taking the anti-doping committee and the executive committee into confidence," he said.

Rai was tested positive for a steroid at the Guwahati National Games in February 2007 -- his second dope offence since the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.

According to anti-doping policy of the IWF, which is also a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Rai should have been handed nothing less than a life ban for his second offence. WADA clause 10.2 clearly states that a first doping offence attracts a fine of two years while a second offence a life ban. But it should also be noted that the WADA code came into existence in 2003 while Rai's first doping offence was in 2002.

But IWF general secretary B.R. Gulati, who has also been accused of taking bribe to include another dope tainted weightlifter Shailaja Pujari for the Olympics, maintained that the president used his so-called condonation powers because Rai assured that he had already withdrawn from all form of competitive weightlifting and will also not participate in future.

"The president used his condonation powers because Rai promised not to puruse his career as a weightlifter. And if he goes back on his word, we will punish him. The president had act because the inquiry committee failed to come to any conclusion," said Gulati.

The IWF chief said he took the decision because the anti-doping committee empowered him to do so. "I have taken the decision because the inquiry committee failed to come to a conclusion."

Beig, however, rubbished Gulati and Singh's claims saying that the committee had clearly stated in the interim report that it needed to meet some more people. Nowhere did the report say that the panel was unable to take come to a conclusion.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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IWF backtrack on original team
By Rohit Bhardwaj

July 10: Controversies have become synonymous with the Indian Weightlifting Federation with the latest being selection for the Beijing Olympic Games.

Accused of taking Rs 5 lakh as bribe to pick lifter Shailaja Pujari ahead of rival Monika Devi and under the sports ministry scanner, IWF secretary Baldev Raj Gulati has backtracked on the team for Beijing.

"We will have a final selection between the probables in Bangalore before July 17, the last date for sending entries for the 2008 Olympics," B.R. Gulati said.

However, Gulati dismissed the bribery charge.

Asked about the ministry’s directive to pick Monika Devi for the Games, Gulati said:

"It will only be decided at the final trial in Bangalore on July 17."

The ministry for its part had ordered that fresh selection trials set for July 15 be scrapped as it would be nothing more than an "unnecessary exercise".

In reply, Gulati said, "to thrust your opinion on the selection committee of an autonomous federation will be fought out as infringement".

Devi had clinched the lone Olympic berth for India in either the men’s or women’s category by picking up a silver and a bronze in the Asian weightlifting championship in Japan in April.

Pujari thereafter outclassed Devi at the trials on June 29, after having served a two-year doping ban that ended in February this year.

Asked about the federation’s plans for uprooting the doping menace has been highlighted time and again, Gulati said: "Doping has always been in power games in some form or the other. It’s only after WADA came into being in 1999 that it has come to light often.

"We have decided to increase the facilities, incentives and monetary rewards for lifters who play clean.

"Any lifter involved in doping will not only be banned but will never be picked for any championship and also not get the benefits enjoyed by others." How much of this will be implemented however, remains to be seen given the IWF’s murky track record.

Egyptian coach Magad Salama resigned four months ago from his post after accusing the players of frequent doping and the federation of corruption. The federation itself has just emerged from a two-year ban after a series of drug-related scandals between 2002 and 2006.

Gulati was however adamant on not imposing a life ban on Satisha Rai, who had tested positive twice — first at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002 and then at the Guwahati National Games in February 2007 — saying, "Satisha has already quit the game six months ago and what purpose would it serve on a sportsperson who has retired?"

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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IWF selects Monika to represent India in Olympics

New Delhi, July 15:  Weightlifter L Monika Devi was unanimously chosen ahead of Shailaja Pujari to represent the country in the Beijing Olympic Games after a selection trial in Bangalore, bringing to an end a selection controversy and allegations of bribery.

Monika, who won a silver and two bronze in the Asian Championship in Japan in April-May to help book the lone berth for India, will compete in the 69kg category while Shailaja (75kg) would be the reserve lifter.

"Monika was chosen for the Olympics by an unanimous decision of the Selection Committee. I am happy that everything went off smoothly during the trials," Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) President Harbhajan Singh said from Bangalore.

"Dev Dutt Sharma will accompany Monika as coach in Beijing," he added. Monika and Shailaja were shortlisted for the final selection after an earlier trial in Pune on June 29 was followed by allegations of bribery on IWF General Secreatry B R Gulati to select Shailaja. Gulati had rubbished the allegations as "baseless".

Shailaja was also alleged to have used knee guards, which were not permitted under IWF rules, in the Pune trial. This led to the Sports Ministry ordering probe into the bribery scandal and asking to cancel the trials besides directing to shift the trial venue from Pune to NIS, Patiala.

IWF stuck to its guns on the repeat selection trials though it shifted the venue of trial to SAI Centre, Bangalore. Sharma's selection as coach was also against Ministry directive that a woman lifter should accompany a woman lifter in Beijing.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Weightlifting federation selects Monika Devi for Olympics

New Delhi, July 15 (IANS) Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Tuesday unanimously selected L. Monika Devi ahead of Shailaja Pujari for the next month’s Beijing Olympics. Monika was selected after a selection trial in Bangalore, resting all allegations of bribery in the selection. Monika won a silver and two bronze in the Asian Championships in Japan in April-May to help book the berth for India, and will compete in the 69kg category. Shailaja (75kg) has been named as the reserve lifter.

“Monika was chosen unanimously by the selection committee. Everything from performance in the trials to past records was taken into consideration by the selection committee,” IWF general secretary B.R. Gulati told IANS.

“Dev Dutt Sharma will accompany Monika as coach in Beijing,” he added. But Sharma’s selection as coach was also against the sports ministry’s directive that a woman coach should accompany a woman lifter to Beijing.

Earlier, Monika and Shailaja were shortlisted for the final selection after trials in Pune June 29. It was followed by allegations of bribery to select Shailaja.

This led to the intervention of the ministry which asked the IWF to shift the repeat trial venue from Pune to Patiala. But the federation shifted the venue of trials to Bangalore.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Lifting drama ends, Monika for Beijing

Bengaluru: July 15: Weightlifting in India has always been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Following the bribery scandal that rocked the abortive selection trials earlier this month, Monika Devi, on Tuesday, was unanimously selected to represent India at the Beijing Olympics.

Monika, who won a a silver and two bronze medals in the Asian Championships in Japan in April-May, will participate in the 69 kg category and will be the lone Indian representative in the sport as India has only one berth. The chief protagonist in the bribe scandal, Shailaja Pujari, has been named as the reserve, but in the 75 kg category.

Monika and Shailaja were shortlisted after the selection trials in Pune on June 29. This was followed by the allegation the B R Gulati, General Secretary of the Indian Weightlifting Federation, had accepted a Rs 5 lakh bribe to select Shailaja ahead of Monika.

The sports ministry, taking the allegations into consideration, had ordered an inquiry into the matter and had asked the IWF to move the final trials to NIS Patiala. But the federation decided to hold it in Bengaluru.

"We are not immature to be affected by such controversies. I am 73 years old and know how to handle the situations. The selection was not affected by the allegations," said Gulati after the trials on Tuesday. On the scandal, he said, "It was a personal allegation and not on the federation. I have filed a defamation case against it in the court. I do not want to comment on it as the case is in the court," he said.

Meanwhile, Dev Dutta Sharma was appointed as the coach and will accompany Monika to Beijing. The appointment of Sharma as coach was also against the directive from the Sports Ministry, who wanted a woman to accompany a woman lifter.

With both the directives of the ministry being ignored, it won’t be surprising if the selection drama runs into rough weather in the coming days.

When asked about the selection of the male coach, Harbhajan Singh, IWF president said, "There are various aspects which we looked into while selecting a coach. Sharma has been with the team that went to the Junior World Championships and the Asian Championships. So it was unanimously decided to select Sharma as the coach."