11 players caught in doping in the National Games held in Uttarakhand, most of the medal winners, 6 from Punjab
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Another unfortunate case of doping in sports has come to light. 11 players have been caught in doping in the recently held 38th National Games in Uttarakhand. Most of the dope positive players are medal winners. Of these, the maximum six players are from Punjab.
The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has imposed a temporary ban on 8 out of 11 players for consuming banned performance enhancing drugs. These include famous basketball player Amritpal Singh of Punjab. Amritpal, who has played in the prestigious leagues of Australia and Japan, has been caught in doping for the second time.
Amritpal had won a gold medal for Punjab in these games. If he is unable to prove his innocence, he may be banned for eight years. He was earlier found dope positive in 2020. A mixture of more than one drug has been found in the samples of Wushu players Neeraj Joshi and Rahul Tomar.
The investigation of the samples taken by NADA is going on. Therefore, the number of players is expected to increase. In the 2023 National Games held in Goa, a record 25 players were caught doping. In the 2015 National Games held in Kerala, there was an uproar when 16 players were caught doping. In the 2022 National Games held in Gujarat, 10 players were found dope positive.
Elish, a contender for gold in the Commonwealth Games, is also included
- A big blow has come in the form of Tamil Nadu weightlifter Elish Arokia. National record holder in 87 kg, Elish was considered the strongest contender for the gold medal in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games next year.
- Three players, including two female athletes, have not been temporarily banned due to specified substances. Both had won gold in these games
- No temporary ban has been imposed on the female player of Modern Pentathlon
