A glitch in the mobile application is the reason for whereabouts failure: Suspended race walker Bhawna Jat

Indian racewalker Bhawna Jat opened up about her suspension and said that whereabouts failure is due to a glitch in the mobile application which she used to fill out the NADA form.

The Indian racewalker Bhawna Jat, who was the only female athlete to make it to the World Athletics Championships, was suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency for failing to fill in the whereabouts details required by the agency. This forced the Athletics Federation of India to withdraw her participation from the World Championships and she was sent home immediately from Budapest.

Bhawna Jat has been in great form this year, having won the National Inter-State Championships in June by finishing ahead of Priyanka Goswami. However, the race walker had also missed two dope tests earlier in May and June.

When the AFI received a notification from NADA regarding whereabouts failure, it was considered a third violation, which caused the suspension.

Talking about the incident, Bhawna Jat told PTI that the whereabouts failure was not intentional. She mentioned that she had no idea how this had happened, as she had issues receiving OTP from the official application while filling out the form. Later, she lost her mobile, causing further issues, which eventually ended in a violation.

"I was not able to receive the OTP on the mobile application and later I lost my phone", Bhawna Jat said.

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What is a Whereabouts failure?

According to World Athletics Anti-Doping Agency rules, there are two types of Whereabouts failure - Filing Failure and Missed Test. The NADA tracks the violations of the athletes and if they commit three violations within a year, they will be suspended immediately.

Filing Failure: As the name indicates, if an athlete failed to complete the quarterly report about his/her whereabouts information, they are subject to 'filing failure'.

Missed Test: If an athlete is not available for the doping test during the window provided by them in the Whereabouts filing, it is a violation under missed test.

Notably, Indian Gymnast Dipa Karmakar was handed a three-year suspension for similar reasons. Indian wrestler Seema Bisla was banned for one year due to "Whereabouts failure" recently.