WFI opens its eyes, slaps two-year ban

The Weightlifting Federation of India WFI was quite successful in keeping the positive case of woman lifter Shailja Pujari under wraps for...

The Weightlifting Federation of India WFI was quite successful in keeping the positive case of woman lifter Shailja Pujari under wraps for over a week. Today, WFI president HJ Dora finally disclosed: 8220;Shailja tested positive for a steroid in the out-of-competition WADA test.8221;

Shailja has tested positive for stanozol, a metabolite of stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. She has been provisionally banned for two years. If she desires, she can ask for a B sample test within 30 days.

It may be recalled that stanozolol first entered the hall of infamy through Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, who was caught doping at the Seoul Asian Games in 1988.

Shailja, who was attending the preparatory camp at Patiala, had known about the failed dope test earlier, it was learnt. But she was 8220;officially8221; informed only on Tuesday. She has been dropped from the Melbourne squad and has been asked to leave the camp.

That leaves only Geetha Rani in the 75kg.

Shailja won gold at the last Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship 2005. She was also declared best lifter. Her positive test indicates rampant use of performance enhancing drugs in lifting in the country.

A couple of years back several juniors ran away from a national competition to evade dope tests. More recently in October last, seven elite lifters fled the national camp to evade international officials.

The train is eerily similar. News of arrival of international officials/testers quickly percolate down to the athletes. Considering that such visits are supposed to be secret, connivance of certain officials in the federation cannot be ruled out.

Story continues below this ad

All the while, the federation has been denying lifters are on drugs. Even today, the WFI didn8217;t change its stance. 8220;A foolish mistake by one lifter doesn8217;t mean all are involved,8221; was how the WFI president defended the case.

Sources say Shailja8217;s positive case is just the tip of the iceberg. 8220;There are more positive cases in the team,8221; said one expert, on condition of anonymity.

Unfortunately, Shailja has failed both the WADA and the SAI test. Other lifters, it is learnt, were negative in WADA test, but SAI reports raised doubts. That could be the reason why SAI officials collected samples again on February 28. SAI, though, denied that samples were taken late February. 8220;Due to the Commonwealth Games backlog, samples collected on February 7 are still pending,8221; said director team wings, MP Ganesh.

Experts say that if they are not failing dope tests: 8220;It8217;s more due to meticulous planning. Lifting huge weights and pumping iron can8217;t go without taking a shot of muscle-booster.8221;