New Delhi: Tokyo Olympics silver medalist and a current Indian Politician, Bajrang Punia has been handed a 4-year ban from the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) after the former failed to send his sample during national trials. The ban on Punia came after the Olympic wrestler refused to submit a sample for a doping test on March 10 during the national team selection trials. This decision came after NADA had initially suspended Bajrang Punia on April 23 for the same offence, which led to a subsequent suspension by the World Governing Body, UWW. NADA suspends wrestler Bajrang Punia for four years for violation of anti-doping code. pic.twitter.com/4iqnmhA1vB — DD NEWS JAMMU | डीडी न्यूज़ जम्मू (@ddnews_jammu) November 27, 2024 What did Bajrang Punia remark? Punia has consistently claimed that he was subjected to unfair treatment regarding doping control due to his involvement in protests against the former Wrestling Federation of India President, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. He insisted that he never outright refused to provide a sample but rather sought clarification from NADA regarding his concerns over the use of expired testing kits that were sent for his samples in December 2023. NADA defended its actions, affirming that the Doping Control Officer had properly approached him, explaining the requirement to provide a urine sample for analysis. In his written defence, Bajrang expressed that NADA's previous conduct had led to mistrust, claiming that the organization's lack of acknowledgement or response in past incidents eroded his confidence in the doping control process. He felt a sense of moral obligation to address these concerns as a prominent athlete in the sports community. Poor Bajrang Punia, betrayed by Vinesh Phogat who's now an MLA, is left to become a full-time farmer protester. Sad. pic.twitter.com/0hzVilcypk— Lord Immy Kant (Eastern Exile) (@KantInEast) November 26, 2024 Bajrang stated that he was always willing to provide a sample, contingent upon receiving adequate responses from NADA regarding the expired kits. However, NADA maintained that his refusal to cooperate was both intentional, asserting that he has shown a blatant disregard for his responsibilities as outlined in Articles 20.1 and 20.2 of the Anti-Doping Rules, 2021.
