Narsingh gets NADA clear, Rio still unclear

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 1

Wrestler Narsingh Yadav, who was under provisional suspension for failing dope tests, has been exonerated by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) of doping charges, though his chances of competing at the Rio Olympics depend on multiple factors. 

The NADA’s three-member anti-doping disciplinary panel (ADDP) chose to side with Narsingh’s conspiracy theory that he was a victim of sabotage and that his rivals had tried to spike/contaminate his food supplements and water at the SAI’s regional centre in Sonepat.

Read: Go and win medal for me and country, Sushil tells Narsingh

Narsingh tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid — methandienone — in an out-of-competition test conducted by NADA on June 25. The 26-year-old grappler from Uttar Pradesh, who represents Maharashtra after shifting his training base to Mumbai, also failed the second dope test on July 5 for the same banned substance.

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Narsingh had been staring at a ban of two to four years from the national and international competitions. He could have been banned for life had NADA considered his July 5 doping violation as his second offence (it treated it in continuation with the first doping failure). The NADA panel decided to let him off, without even a reprimand or a warning for his dope offence, let alone punishment. 

Also read: Was offered Rs 1 lakh to spike Rio-bound para-athlete’s drink: Juice vendor

This, despite the fact that Narsingh was on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) radar for long and was among the six Rio-bound athletes, for whom more blood and  urine samples were sought for further testing by the world’s anti-doping watchdog. WADA had sought samples for Narsingh’s hematological passport, also known as athlete’s biological passport, for Rio. On WADA’s direction, NADA tested Narsingh’s urine samples on July 5 and these returned positive. 

For record, Narsingh’s samples were the only to return positive, while the samples of other five athletes — Shiva Thapa and Vikas Krishnan (boxing), Sandeep Tomar (wrestling) and Satish Sivalingam and Mirabai Chanu (weightlifting) — had returned negative. “We kept in mind that in the past, till June 2, none of his samples was positive. It was inconceivable that one-time ingestion would be of benefit. Therefore, the panel is of the view that the one-time ingestion was not intentional,” NADA DG Naveen Agarwal said.

“The panel concludes that the athlete deserves the benefit of article 10.4 of the NADA’s anti-doping code. Keeping in view that he was a victim of sabotage, the panel exonerates the athlete from charges of anti-doping. The report about estimated concentration of prohibited substance in the sample collected on June 25 has substantially reduced in the sample collected on July 5. It’s important to note that report of the first sample was not known to the athlete till the collection of second sample on July 5. Had the athlete been regularly taking it, the report of July 5 would have been positive to the extent of having the main substance,” the DG added.

The verdict could lead to a major face-off between WADA and NADA in the oming days. Narsingh’s Rio participation would largely depend on how WADA reacts to the judgment as the watchdog and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have been setting a precedent by banning the Rio-bound Russian contingent for state-sponsored doping violations. 

WADA reserves the right to appeal against the judgment in 21 days in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Luasanne, Switzerland. It can also impose a provisional suspension or a ban for a certain period on NADA, refusing to buy the conspiracy theory. 

I am very happy, I cant wait to to win for my nation in the Olympics: Narsingh Yadav. pic.twitter.com/s0rqvjuEHF

— ANI (@ANI_news) August 1, 2016

Until WADA files an appeal in the case, Narsingh can compete in Rio. In case of an adverse verdict in the middle of the Olympics, Narsingh would be barred from competing in his 74kg event.

WADA could also impose sanctions on NADA in case they believe that Narsingh’s matter was not handled suitably and the panel worked under “external pressure”. 

“Since Narsingh failed the dope test twice, NADA’s exoneration may not go down well with WADA. NADA is not an investigating agency.  How could they establish a conspiracy theory which is not their mandate? How can they just rely on the testimony of two cooks? Let’s see how WADA reacts,” said an official, who had previously worked with NADA.

A lot will also depend on whether the United World Wrestling (UWW) accepts Narsingh’s entry barely four days before the start of the Olympics as Praveen Rana has already replaced him for Rio in the 74kg category. Rana is training with other members of the team in Georgia. The Rio Games organisers can also refuse to entertain Narsingh’s entry at the last moment after accepting Rana’s name.