Nearly three years after wrestler Narsingh Yadav was banned for a positive dope test ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Central Bureau of Investigation has dismissed the sabotage theory floated by him with support from the Wrestling Federation of India, The Indian Express reported on Monday.
Yadav had tested positive for a banned drug methandienone three weeks before the Rio Olympics. The 74-kg wrestler had then alleged sabotage without naming anyone in particular, saying his food at the national camp in Sonepat had been spiked.
The Anti-Doping Appeal Panel of the National Anti-Doping Agency had accepted Yadav’s defence and allowed him to travel to Brazil, where the Court of Arbitration for Sports banned him for four years after an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The Mumbai-based wrestler had then filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court demanding a CBI inquiry and had support of the WFI.
However, the CBI is not convinced about the sabotage theory. It has urged the Delhi High Court to dismiss the writ petition after submitting a status report with an affidavit in a sealed envelope on January 31.
Though Yadav had not named anyone in his police complaint, it was clear that the wrestler was hinting at India’s two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, who had moved to the 74-kg category after the 2012 London Olympics and was demanding a selection trial to decide who will represent India at Rio.
Yadav’s complaint had claimed that someone named Jitesh had tried to spike his food on January 5, 2016, by adding a drug to his dal. The mess staff and the wrestler’s sparring partner, Chandan Yadav, had to allegedly throw away the food after they noticed an unusual froth with green and white residue on top.
According to sources, the entire scene was recreated on March 2, 2017. Chandan Yadav was asked to prepare the dal and tablets of methandienone were then added to it, but there was no unusual frothing or residue as claimed in the complaint.
