The National Anti-Doping Appeal (NADA) panel has rejected an appeal from footballer Nishant Mehra against his two-year suspension for the use of cannabis.
A disciplinary panel had imposed a two-year suspension on Mehra, a Mumbai FC player, who tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in an I-League match in January this year.
Sympathetic, but…
With Mehra failing to prove how the substance entered his body, the disciplinary panel, though sympathetic towards the player, had to slap a two-year suspension.
Mehra filed the appeal against the order, but once again failed to explain how the substance entered his body. He did bring in a few fresh arguments during the appeal hearing, but the panel headed by Justice C.K. Mahajan (retd.), upheld the decision of the disciplinary panel after deliberating the final order for over two-and-a-half months.
Use of cannabis, a recreational drug and a ‘specified substance' in the WADA list, normally attracts only a few months' suspension, especially when the athlete admits its use.
Reprieve
The Mahajan panel also reprieved rowers Narender Singh and Anil Kumar, both of whom tested positive for stimulant methylhexaneamine at the National Games in Ranchi. While upholding the decisions of the disciplinary panel, the appeal panel concurred with it that sample collection procedures were not up to prescribed standards.
The NADA and the Rowing Federation of India (RFI) had gone in appeal against the disciplinary panel decision.
Meanwhile, a disciplinary panel headed by Jasmeet Singh has exonerated woman boxer Anita who was charged with a glucocorticoteroid violation during the All-India Police Games last March.
Weightlifter Asim Biswas of Bengal was given a 10-month suspension for having tested positive for diuretics chlorothiazide and hydrochlorothiazide by a panel headed by R.S. Chauhan. He had tested positive in December last year. His suspension period is already over since it has been dated back to sample collection date.
Suspension
Maharashtra woman weightlifter Deeksha Gaykwad was suspended for two years for a methylhexaneamine violation by the same panel. She had tested positive at the junior National championship.
Deeksha's suspension commencement was dated back to sample collection date, January 7 this year.
