India’s para badminton star Pramod Bhagat will not be allowed to defend his title at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris after being found guilty of breaching Badminton World Federation Anti-Doping regulations.
Bhagat had initially been suspended from competing in the sport on March 1, for a period of 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s anti-doping division. The governing body found that the 36-year-old shuttler had breached the whereabouts clause of the BWF regulations and subsequently handed him a suspension that was to end on September 1, 2025.
The Tokyo Paralympics gold-medallist, however challenged the decision at the CAS Appeals Division.
On July 29, the CAS Appeals Division dismissed Bhagat’s plea.
“The Badminton World Federation can confirm India’s Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion Pramod Bhagat has been suspended for a period of 18 months and will miss the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games,” read a BWF statement.
“[The CAS Anti-Doping Division] found Bhagat in breach of the BWF anti-doping regulations for committing three whereabouts failures within 12 months.”
Bhagat, competing in the SL3 division, is a six-time World Championships gold-medallist – with his latest triumph coming in February at the tournament in Pattaya, Thailand.
The shuttler, on his part, maintained that the final failure was due to a ‘technical glitch.’
“I am deeply saddened by the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Badminton World Federation to suspend me from particuipating in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games,” he said.
“I want to clarify that the suspension is due to three whererabouts failures within a 12-month period, especially the last one being a result of a technical glitch rather than any intentional wrongdoing.”
Bhagat, a two-time Asian Games gold-medallist and the current world No 3 in his category, was one of India’s biggest medal hopes for the upcoming 2024 Paralympics.
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