Weigh-tlifter Satish Rai has been stripped of the 85 kg gold won at the Guwahati National Games in February, and faces a life ban after his ‘B’ sample, sent to the WADA-accredited laboratory in Bangkok, confirmed consumption of the banned drug Stanozolol.
Rai was one of nine athletes guilty of dope violations during the National 33rd Games. While names of eight athletes were made public last month, Rai’s name was not disclosed.
IOA’s Medical and Anti-Doping Commission chairman Dr Manmohan Singh on Thursday identified the ninth athlete as Rai and said he was guilty of consuming performance-enh-ancing drugs.
“The National Doping Control Centre Bangkok has confimed that both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ samples of Satish Rai are turned out positive for prohibited substance Stanozolol,” Dr Singh said in a statement. “The Indian Olympic Association disqualifies the results obtained by Rai with all consequences including the forfeiture of all medals, points and prizes per rules.”
The IOA also forwarded his name to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) to impose sanctions on him. It was not the first case of dope violation by veteran Karnataka lifter Rai, who represented Andhra Pradesh in the Games.
Rai had been stripped of two gold medals and a silver at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002, having tested positive for a stimulant.
The second offence me-ans he faces a life ban if the WFI decides to impose the most stringent sanction on him. The weightlifting federation will decide on the severity of his punishment after clarifying with the international body over Rai's first positive test, which led to a six-month ban.
“If they say the first one should also be treated like steroid doping, then it will be a straight life ban for a second offence,” WFI secretary Balbir Bhatia said. "We will discuss the matter with the international federation. We do not want to take any action that may take us to court," Bhatia added.
“We will also put the matter in front of our executive committee meeting. Until then, he will not be allowed to compete.”
