Shooter Ravi Kumar joined the list of top Indian athletes caught in the dope net after he tested positive for a beta-blocker and is provisionally suspended.
The Asian and Commonwealth Games bronze medal winner was tested during the selection trials for the Munich World Cup and has opted for provisional suspension after the results came. He hasn’t been part of the Indian contingent since then.
In his defence, the shooter argued that the the drug ‘inadvertently’ entered his body after he took a medicine for migraine.
Kumar’s suspension comes days after one of India’s top basketball player Satnam Singh was provisionally suspended for failing a dope. Interestingly, both Singh and Kumar have been tested for a drug that is ‘specified substance’ according to World Anti-Doping Agency. Both can get away with a shorter suspension than the four-year bans for unspecified substances.
WADA defines prohibited substances as ‘specified’ and ‘non-specified’ to ‘recognize that it is possible for a substance to enter an athlete’s body inadvertently.’
The National Rifle Association of India had communicated to Kumar that he was not eligible to be picked for the Indian team once he was provisionally suspended but he continued to compete in selection trials since NADA gave him a NOC.