Narsingh cleared of doping charges, set for Rio Olympics

In a sensational turnaround, Narsingh Yadav was today exonerated of doping charges by the National Anti-doping Agency (NADA), which concluded that he was a victim of sabotage, paving the way for the wrestler's participation in Rio Olympics.

After more than a week of drama which began with Narsingh testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid methandienone in tests conducted on June 25, NADA DG Naveen Agarwal put an end to the suspense on the wrestler's fate by exonerating him.

"We kept in mind that in the past, till June 2, none of his samples were positive. It was inconceivable that one-time ingestion would be of benefit. Therefore the panel is of the view that the one-time ingestion was not intentional," Agarwal said while reading out the verdict.

"The panel concludes that the athlete deserves the benefit of article 10.4 of the NADA's anti-doping code. Keeping in view that he was victim of a sabotage, the panel exonerates the athlete from charges of anti-doping rules of NADA.

Agarwal said the sample collected on July 5 had substantially lower content of the banned substance than the one taken on June 25.

"...the report about indicative estimated concentration of prohibited substance in the sample collected on June 25 has substantially reduced in the sample collected on July 5," he added.

"Important to note that report of the first sample was not known to the athlete till the collection of second sample on July 5. Had the athlete been regularly taking it, the report of July 5 would have been positive to the extent of having the main substance."

A relieved Narsingh said he is eager to go to the Olympics now and win a medal for the country.

"I am very happy and I am hopeful of winning a medal at the Olympics. Truth has won. This will ensure that nothing like this happens with any other player. It is a huge win," Narsingh said.

"I knew I was on the right side and was confident of getting justice," he added.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said the process to get Narsingh back in the Olympic squad has been set in motion. Narsingh had been replaced by Parveen Rana when the scandal broke out to save India's quota place in the 74kg category.

"To save the country's quota, we sent Parveen Rana's name and told the world body that Narsingh would be sent if he is cleared. Have faith, Narsingh will go to Rio. We had told United World Wrestling (UWW) that once Narsingh is cleared he will replace Parveen Rana," Singh said.

"We are confident that Narsingh will go, the judgement is clear that Narsingh was victim of sabotage. NADA has agreed to this. Narsingh Yadav will go to Rio," he added.

The NADA reached the conclusion after three days of marathon hearings last week during which Narsingh's lawyers argued that the wrestler had been sabotaged by rivals. Narsingh had even filed a police complaint, naming two fellow wrestlers, one of whom is a 17-year-old.

NADA's legal team had also given its arguments against the sabotage theory before the disciplinary committee, stating that the responsibility of keeping his system dope free lay solely with Narsingh.

The panel had summoned two cooks on the request of Narsingh's lawyer Vidushpat Singhania on Saturday to verify the theory of his food being contaminated.

Earlier, the argument put forth by NADA's legal team was that Narsingh was not eligible for remission, which he had been asking for, because he failed to establish that he did not commit any fault or negligence.

Narsingh had been picked by the WFI ahead of two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar for the Rio Games on the basis of him bagging the 74kg Olympic quota berth with a World Championships bronze last year.

Sushil's demands for a trial were rejected by the Federation as well as the Delhi High Court after a lengthy legal battle. On his part, Sushil offered support to Narsingh after today's verdict.

"It's a great news. My support was there earlier as well, even today and will remain tomorrow. Go win for me and the country," the legendary Olympian tweeted.