All the 11 sportspersons who were suspended for two years on November 5 last for methylhexaneamine (MHA) violations have appealed to the National Anti-Doping Appeal panel (NADAP) for elimination or reduction of their ineligibility period.
The deadline for filing notice of appeal was Monday. Three of the suspended athletes, swimmers Amar Muralidharan and Jyotsana Pansare, and wrestler Rahul Mann filed their appeal briefs while the others — athletes Saurabh Vij and Akash Antil, wrestlers Rajeev Tomar, Joginder Singh, Sumit Sehrawat, Mausam Khatri and Gursharanpreet Kaur; and swimmer Richa Mishra — have filed notice of appeal.
The cases, dating back to August-September, 2010, were disposed of after a 25-month long hearing process. In the end, all athletes were suspended for two years, with the hearing panel ruling that there were no grounds to reduce the sanctions.
Biggest setback
The biggest setback for the athletes was the application of Article 10.8 by which their results obtained in various national and international competitions for over two years were ordered to be disqualified and their medals and prizes forfeited.
Of the 37 ‘positive’ cases for MHA adjudicated so far by the disciplinary and appeal panels in India, 27 including the last batch of 11, have ended in two-year bans. Apart from the latest 11, two other appeals are pending.
