India File

Footballer banned
CALCUTTA: The Indian Footall Association IFA today slapped a four-match suspension on Eastern Railway footballer Hiralal Das as a disciplinary action for assaulting a referee during a first division league match.

TheIFA8217;s league sub-committee, which met here to take a decision on the matter, however did not impose any monetary fine on the erring player. IFA joint secretary, Ranjit Gupta told reporters that Das was suspended for two matches for red card booking and two more matches as a disciplinary measure.

Drug test
NEW DELHI: Marathon runner Sunita Godara has issued a legal notice to the government saying the Arjuna Awards and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award should not be given to the awardees till they were made to undergo drug tests. The notice to the Human Resource Ministry, issued through advocate Raman Kapoor, said if the government went ahead with the award ceremony scheduled for August 29, she would approach the courts of law in this regard.