Egyptian coach puts in his papers after lifting dope lid

Barely nine weeks to go for the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Kanazawa...

Barely nine weeks to go for the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Kanazawa Japan8212;the last chance for India to book their Beijing berth 8212; the Indian Weightlifting Federation IWF is yet again pre-occupied with the doping issue. And, surprisingly, the issue has been raised by none other than its foreign coach Maged Salama.

The conroversy had its immediate fallout: one, the coach put in his papers and, two, the Sports Authority of India SAI has called off the preparatory camp for both the senior and youth groups on Sunday, which was in progress at Patiala.

The foreign coach, besides submitting his resignation, has also levelled serious allegations of doping against senior lifters. However, the IWF secretary-general Balbir Singh Bhatia rubbished the allegations saying the coach wanted to have his way in everything, including selection matters.

8220;The allegations are totally baseless. Top lifters were tested at home SAI lab and abroad in international competitions, including the world championships. There were over 70 samples collected in 2007, and there was just one positive case. If the lifters had been taking performance-enhancing drugs, as alleged by the coach, the test results would have been positive,8221; said Bhatia.

Salama, whose resignation is still under consideration, wasn8217;t available for his comments on the issue. The Egyptian was appointed in September 2007, and was given the charge of junior development programme to prepare the national squad for Youth Commonwealth Games in Pune. Recently, he was also overseeing the senior preparatory camp for the continental championships.

In the preparatory camp at Patiala, though, the participation of lifters had thinned which substantiate Salama8217;s allegations. The IWF secretary, however, brushed aside this saying, 8220;Those who missed the camp have already given the reason for doing so. It8217;s not because of any fear of WADA dope testing officials swooping down on them but because of personal reasons the lifters are not attending the camp,8221; he said.

8220;As for the youth camp is concerned, the majority of them are busy with their academics. The respective state associations have informed us of that. The lifters will attend the camp in April,8221; he added

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Asked if the resignation of the foreign coach will have any impact on India8217;s chances in the upcoming continental competition in Japan. Bhatia said he did not think that it will affect in any way. He said India stood a very good chance in Japan.

Bhatia based his theory on the fact that other top Asian nations, including China, Korea and Thailand, have already booked their Beijing berths and even if they compete in the Japan meet, it will not spoil India8217;s chances.

Bhatia also said that SAI has temporarily called off the camp. SAI Director General Rattan P Wattal also said that it would start soon.

Meanwhile, a four-member committee has been constituted with WFI president Harbhajan Singh as its chairman, to oversee the future camps.