Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Mr Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, President of the Wrestling Federation of India, announced that the final hearing on the doping issue involving wrestler Narsingh Yadav will be held on Wednesday.
From the moment that news of Narsingh’s samples testing positive for high concentrations of methandienone broke out, there had been hints of foul play aimed at jeopardising the Varanasi-born wrestler’s Rio 2016 chances. Suspicions thickened when it was learnt that tests conducted by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) on his roommate Sandeep Tulsi Yadav, who is not even going to the upcoming Olympics, returned positive results for the banned anabolic steroid.
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Lending his support to Narsingh’s cause was the WFI President himself. Below are some excerpts from his speech at the press conference:
“Narsingh Yadav is a good athlete. I can't believe he would do something like this willfully.”
“SAI DG Injeti Srinivas had warned Narsingh Yadav against training at Sonepat Centre, but he had refused to practice separately.”
“We've sought a chance from FILA (international body), we want Narsingh to get justice. We believe he is innocent.”
“I am scared for all athletes of India if they are to become victims of conspiracy like Narsingh today. I will investigate this to the fullest.”
The player in question, Narsingh hasn’t stepped back in the face of the current adversity either. According to ANI, he has called for a CBI probe in an effort to acknowledge the gravity of the matter.
Come Wednesday, a lot of questions raging on the issue right now will be answered once NADA gives their verdict.