A day after the Union Sports Ministry decided to de-recognise the Rowing Federation of India, the apex governing body of the sport has withdrawn the two year suspension it has imposed on Olympian Dattu Bhokanal.
RFI president Rajlaxmi Singh Deo conveyed the decision to the Union Sports Secretary on Thursday through an email and the 28-year-old would now be eligible to participate in the Olympic qualifiers to be held in April.
“This is to inform you that as per the advice of the RFI Athlete’s Commission, the suspension of 2 years imposed on Rower Bhokanal Dattu Baban on 30 Apr 2019 has been removed immediately with effect from 23.1.2020. The Rower has been informed accordingly and has been advised to prepare for the forthcoming Olympic Qualification Regatta to be held at Chungju, Korea from 27-30 Apr 2020,” she said in the email.
Bhokanal was suspended for two years starting from March 29, 2019 after the RFI executive committee charged him with tanking the single sculls race at the 2018 Asian Games in Palembang and later giving the name of his acquaintance as coach for a state government award for winning gold medal in the Quadruple sculls.
The 28-year-old in his written reply had claimed that he was suffering from high fever during the single sculls event and could not continue after his boat capsized during the race.
Despite his suspension, Bhokanal continued to train with other rowers at the Army Rowing Node in Pune.
While Bhokanal had not challenged the decision then, Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra has questioned the validity of the decision after Athletes’ Committee chairman Anju Bobby George wrote to the governing body requesting to review the ban imposed on the rower and the sanctions may hurt his career.
IOA and RFI were at loggerheads following the latter’s election on December 6, 2019 in which Rajlaxmi Singh Deo was re-elected as the president while MV Sriram was chosen the new secretary.