Now, officials face rap for dope bungle

Taking the cue from the Wrestling Federation of India, which banned Khatri for two years after being informed about the positive test, the ministry also decided to crack down on erring officials. ‘‘When we’re recommending sanctions on coaches and athletes, the same goes for SAI officials as well,’’ said a ministry official.

There may yet be more trouble in the offing, as the Indian contingent for the Asian Athletics meet in South Korea has left without any of the test results being known. The DCC collected the dope samples of 47 of the 49 athletes — two, Vikas Gowda and thrower Anil Kumar, were out of the country — but not a single result was available.

SAI officials said the team clearance was late, allowing them just enough time to collect the samples.

However, they have written to the Athletics Federation of India to get an undertaking from all the athletes that they alone will be responsible if tests turn positive. This is just to save their skin in case things go wrong.

Admitting as much, said an official: “Since we didn’t have enough time for the results, we had to ensure some kind of assurance from the athletes.”

The ministry’s crackdown on officials has spread fear in SAI over what could happen if one of the 47 athletes tested positive at the Asian meet.

Neelam case marks time, ASI in dark

NEW DELHI: The 14-day period given to Neelam Jaswant Singh to file an appeal against her suspension ended on Tuesday with no clear indication of what the next step would be. The Athletics Federation of India had not received any written communication from the athlete till late at night.

Though the AFI has formed a panel to go into the hearing, it cannot announce it till it receives a formal reply from Neelam. The federation is considering extending the deadline if the athlete seeks one, though this can only be done after getting approval from the international body. With AFI secretary-general Lalit Bhanot in South Korea, it looks like a decision on the hearing will have to wait until he returns on September 5.