Custodian Adrian gets one-year suspension

Former India hockey goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza was slapped with a one-year suspension on Monday by a three-member Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel for testing positive for  tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a metabolite of marijuana.

The panel headed by retired judge Dinesh Dayal accepted a last-minute affidavit by D’Souza’s friend , Anthony Kai­t­h­av­alappil, at whose residence, it was claimed, the party was held in Mumbai where the hockey player said he smoked cigarettes laced with marijuana.

Kaithavalappil stated in the affidavit that he had smoked cigarettes laced with marijuana and had also passed on a few of them to D’Souza and the latter had smoked them without knowing the contents of the cigarettes.

The panel concluded that the player could be given a reduced sanction under Article 10.5.2 (no significant fault or negligence) and Article 10.4 (in cases of specified substances like  THC).

“He is a hockey goalkeeper and all the adverse effects of THC will seriously affect his goalkeeping ability. As such, no hockey goalkeeper will be foolish enough to use THC as a performance-enhancing substance for his goalkeeping abilities. Accordingly, he becomes eligible to qualify for elimination or reduced period of ineligibility,” stated the order.

D’Souza was tested on March 21 during a WSH match in Jalandhar, where he led his team Mumbai Marines.

D’Souza’s suspension starts from June 7, when he formally requested in writing for a voluntary provisional suspension.

He had also told the panel that he took voluntary suspension after he was notified by NADA about his positive dope test. The panel, however, rejected his case for a voluntary suspension from Apr 1 since he could not substantiate his claim.

School athletes banned

The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) on Tuesday handed suspensions to six athletes, who tested positive during the 57th National School Games held here from December 28 to January 3.

Gagan Kumar Patel (wres­t­li­ng , one year), Jugraj Singh (w­e­ightlifting, two years) and Himanshu (weightlifting, one year), Shivaji More (two years, boxing), Ashwani Kumar (thr­ee months, boxing) and Manoj Kumar (three months, boxing) were penalised after their 'B' samples also returned positive.

NADA had conducted 80 doping tests during the Games from which 11 turned out to be positive. This is the first time in the country that school students have been indicted for doping offences and issued sanction/ban.