After two-time Olympic Games medallist Sushil Kumar’s arrest in an alleged murder case, Indian wrestling is once again in the news for the wrong reasons.
With the Tokyo Games just weeks away, India faced major embarrassment as Olympic-bound wrestler Sumit Malik was provisionally suspended on Thursday after failing a dope test during the Games qualifiers in Sofia.
This is the second time that this has happened in the run-up to the Games. Before the Rio Olympics in 2016, Narsingh Yadav had also failed a dope test and was banned for four years.
Malik, 28, had qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the 125kg category at the Bulgaria meet. It was the final chance for wrestlers to earn quotas.
The United World Wrestling (UWW) intimated the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) about the development through an email. The substance found in Malik’s sample is 5-methylhexan-2-amine (1,4-dimethylpentylamine). It’s a specified substance under section six of Wada code banned in-competition.
Malik can appeal but by the time the hearing takes place and a verdict comes out, he could miss competing at the Olympics.
“It will be interesting to see how the defence counsel plans Malik’s case. He may request UWW to expedite his case since the Olympic Games are round the corner. He has to produce his case foolproof to exonerate himself from all the charges and the UWW may let him off with a reprimand. At this point in time, he seems to be in serious trouble,” sports lawyer Parth Goswmi told The Telegraph from New Delhi.
“In the Narsingh case, after the National Anti Doping Agency (Nada) gave a clean chit to the wrestler, Wada had gone to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision. Narsingh was given a choice to take his time to present his case, which meant missing the Games. The wrestler did not agree to that, presented his case and was slapped with a four-year ban,” Goswami added.
Malik has been nursing a knee injury that he suffered during the national camp before the qualifiers began at different venues. He had competed at the Asian qualifiers in Almaty in April but failed. However, at the Sofia meet, Malik earned the quota by reaching the final, which he forfeited owing to the same injury.
