Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia, on Wednesday, alleged that the National Anti Doping Agency, or NADA, was using out-dated and expired equipment when procuring samples from athletes.
In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, the 29-year-old wrestler explained that he had been visited by officials from NADA, for a regular test. However, Punia found and displayed in the video that the equipment – including syringes and vials – were past their expiry dates.
“This is a very important video for all of us to watch and consider,” Bajrang wrote on X. “How do we trust the system if procedures are not followed. How can one ensure that there is no manipulation in the entire process? This can happen to anyone, especially junior athletes.
“Please be informed about your rights and procedure related to doping. We urge the concerned authorities to take necessary action and request the athletes to remain alert and exercise utmost caution during such procedures,” he posted on social media, tagging NADA.
Later on in the video, Punia is seen addressing the NADA official present, claiming that he is not blaming them for the mistake but rather their superior officers working on the direction of administrators.
“I am not pointing out your mistake,” Punia is heard saying. “Your superiors are trying to intentionally trap athletes in dope cases.”
The Khel Ratna Awardee, who won bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, also claimed that a young woman wrestler had been trapped in one such bogus doping case by the former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bushan Sharan Singh.
“I won’t take the name but there is a girl, who has been trapped in the doping net by Brij Bushan because she was not intimidated by him,” he is heard saying.
“They offer money to some, threaten some and now its time to trap them in doping cases.
“They themselves told the girl that doping officials are at your house, take care. How do they know there are doping officials at her house? NADA has been banned in the past by WADA [World Anti Doping Agency], yet they continue their lousy ways.”
Also read: Wrestlers’ protest: A frozen moment of resilience shows how India’s women have been betrayed
Punia, along with many high profile Indian wrestlers such as Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik and three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat, took to the streets protesting against Singh, whom they accused of intimidation and sexual harassment.
Singh was then removed from his post as the national wrestling body’s chief with a three-member ad-hoc committee running the daily affairs of the federation ever since.
The national body has also been suspended by the United World Wrestling in August for not hosting elections, forcing Indian grapplers to compete under a neutral flag in events affiliated to the global body.
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