Haryana sprinter Dharambir Singh’s joy of winning the men’s 100m race in the 52nd Senior National inter-State athletics meet proved to be short-lived with the Athletics Federation of India suspending him from the medal winner’s list, pending enquiry, after he failed to report for the dope test immediately after the race on Saturday evening.
This was disclosed by Mr. C. K. Valson, secretary of AFI, on Sunday evening after the athlete had undergone a delayed dope test on Sunday.
Mr. Valson said Andhra Pradesh’s Md Abdul Najeeb Qureshi, who was second in the race, will now be the winner of the event.
“This decision to suspend him pending enquiry is to send a stern warning to all athletes taking part in the meet. No one can take us for a ride,” Mr. Valson said.
“Well, we are not straightaway suspending him for two years. We did get an explanation from the Haryana’s team management which said that he missed the dope test because he was standing at the pole vault competition area when repeated announcements were made through the public address system that Dharambir should report for the dope test,” the AFI secretary pointed out.
“A mistake is a mistake. He was supposed to be here. The decision was taken after a meeting which was also attended by the AFI president Adille J. Sumariwalla,” Mr. Valson said to a query.
