Former India hockey goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza was on Monday suspended for one year for his anti-doping rule violation committed during the recent World Series Hockey (WSH) tournament.
D'Souza had tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a metabolite of marijuana, in a sample collected after the WSH match at Jalandhar in March last.
Based on a supplementary affidavit submitted by D'Souza on Monday, the day the order was scheduled to be pronounced, the disciplinary panel, headed by retired judge Dinesh Dayal, reduced the suspension to one year.
The fresh affidavit was from one Anthony Kaithavalappil who had earlier also submitted an affidavit stating that the party at which D'Souza smoked, was at his place in Mumbai on March 15 last.
Fresh statement
In his fresh statement, Kaithavalappil said that he had smoked cigarettes “laced with marijuana” and he “offered the same cigarettes” to the player also. “Mr. D'Souza without any suspicion of its contents happened to smoke them,” the affidavit stated. The panel stated that “it appeared” from the affidavit that the “athlete has been able to establish how the prohibited substance entered his body.”
Normally in such cases, dealt under Article 10.4 (specified substances), the suspension would be for a few months only.
