After NADA clearance, wrestler Narsingh Yadav sets sight on Rio 2016 Olympics

After Yadav failed the dope test, India had named Praveen Rana as a replacement in the 74-kg category at the Olympics.

The NADA panel concluded that Narsingh was a victim of “sabotage”, a theory the wrestler and his legal team had pursued during the hearing which took place over two days last week.

Narsingh faced a four-year ban for a first-time doping offence but appealed under article 10.4 of the WADA code that provides for “elimination of ineligibility where an athlete can prove that despite all due care he or she was sabotaged by a competitor”.

Reacting to the NADA panel’s verdict, Narsingh said, “I am very happy and hopeful of winning a medal at the Olympics. Truth has won. This will ensure that nothing like this happens with any other player. It is a huge win.”

WATCH: Narsingh gets clean chit. What next?

Narsingh had tested positive on June 25 and July 5 — both instances being considered as one failure by the hearing panel — in dope tests conducted by NADA.

Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan said, “We are confident that Narsingh will go to Rio, the judgement is clear that Narsingh was a victim of sabotage.”

But with time running out for the wrestler — the men’s freestyle 74-kg category competition is on August 19 — the WFI official said the federation would forward a copy of the NADA hearing to WADA and the IOC to get clarity on whether Narsingh can be a part of the Games.

Even if he is allowed to go to Rio, Narsingh can face another hurdle as WADA can challenge the NADA panel verdict at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest appellate body. Moreover, even NADA, in consultation with WADA, can lodge an appeal with its disciplinary panel against the exoneration.

Both the hearing committee and the disciplinary panel, the body which entertains appeals, are independent of NADA.

Dr P S M Chandran, former head of sports medicine at Sports Authority of India (SAI) and a member of NADA’s panels on previous occasions, said, “WADA can
appeal against the hearing panel verdict at the CAS. Moreover, as it is an Olympic year, the IOC’s medical commission can also appeal at the CAS. These appeals have to be made within 21 days,” said Chandran.

NADA may also find itself in a dilemma on the next sample collection and test of Narsingh because WADA does not encourage screening of athletes so close to an Olympics.

NADA director-general Navin Agarwal said that the anabolic steroid seemed to be getting washed out of Narsingh’s body. The sample collected on July 5 had substantially lower content of the banned substance than the one taken on June 25, he said.

“The report about indicative estimated concentration of prohibited substance in the sample collected on June 25 has substantially reduced in the sample collected on July 5,” Agarwal said.

“It is important to note that the report of the first sample was not known to the athlete till the collection of the 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,” he said.

Last week, Narsingh had filed a complaint at the Rai police station in Sonepat, accusing a 17-year-old wrestler of allegedly mixing a banned drug in his food that led to him failing the dope test. Narsingh was based at the SAI centre in Sonepat to participate in the preparatory camp for the Rio Games.