Rakesh Babu was ruled out of Triple Jump final on Saturday. (Source: Reuters)
In a major embarrassment for the country, two Indian athletes were thrown out of the Games Village and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was asked to ensure they ‘depart Australia on the first flight available’, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Louise Martin said.
Race walker KT Irfan and triple jumper Rakesh Babu had their accreditations cancelled and were removed from the Games Village at 9am on Friday. They were found guilty of breaching the CGF’s no-needle policy after a used syringe was recovered by the cleaners in a cup on the bedside table of the room occupied by the two athletes on Wednesday.
The blood and urine samples of the athletes were collected and analysed on Thursday but there was no anti-doping rule violation found. Athletics Federation of India general secretary CK Valson said a disciplinary committee hearing will be initiated against the two athletes and hinted that strong sanctions are likely to be imposed on them.
While Babu could not be reached, Irfan hung up when asked to comment on the issue.
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This is the second time in as many weeks that the Indian athletes have been found guilty of sneaking in a syringe inside the Games Village despite being warned against it. On the day of the opening ceremony, the Indian boxers were let off with a reprimand for violating the policy. The CGF said they had warned India’s chef de mission Vikram Sisodia that ‘any further infractions by any member of the Indian Team of the No Needle Policy could result in the withdrawal of accreditation of the offending person.’
After a hearing conducted at the makeshift CGF court on Thursday, it was decided to punish the athletes while let off the officials with a warning. Irfan finished 13th in the 20km race walk event earlier this week while Babu had qualified for Friday’s triple jump final after finishing 12th in the qualifying round on Thursday however he was unlikely to compete due to an injury he picked up last night.
“The Chef de Mission of the Commonwealth Games Association of India (“CGA India”), Vikram Singh Sisodia; General Team Manager, Namdev Shirgaonker; Athletics Team Manager, Ravinder Chaudhry; two athletes, Rakesh Babu and Irfan Kolothum Thodi; and other individuals (Team Managers) associated with CGA India were found by the CGF Federation Court to be in breach of the CGF No Needle Policy for the Games (the “No Needle Policy”). All five individuals were found to be in breach of the Policy,” Martin said at the daily morning briefing on Friday.
The CGF heard the versions of the cleaners who discovered the needle, the officials from Australian Sports Anti Doping Agency and the two athletes. While they were convinced with the testimony of the first two parties involved, the CGF said they were not convinced with the alibi given by Irfan and Babu.
“The testimony of an Incognitus Cleaners Operations Manager as to the discovery of a needle in a cup on the bedside table in bedroom 2 of Apartment 7 in the Games Village assigned to CGA India and occupied by Rakesh Babu – Athlete, Triple Jump, and Irfan Kolothum Thodi – Athlete, Race Walk (“Bedroom 2”) is credible,” Martin said. “The testimony of the Australia Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) Principal Investigator as to the discovery of a syringe in the bag of Rakesh Babu found in Bedroom 2 which said bag Rakesh Babu admitted to be his property is credible.”
She added: “The testimony of athletes Rakesh Babu and Irfan Kolothum Thodi who denied all knowledge of the needle in the cup in Bedroom 2 and the further testimony of Rakesh Babu that he had no knowledge of the syringe found in his bag in Bedroom 2 are both unreliable and evasive.”
Curiously, Irfan and Babu told the AFI on Thursday night that they had the needles with them during the camp at the National Institute of Sport (NIS) in Patiala and ‘forgot to remove them’ upon reaching Australia. “These were vitamin injections and not any performance enhancing drugs. Still, they have ignored the rules and we will punish them for that. A disciplinary committee hearing will be called soon to decide what action needs to be taken,” Valson said.
According to the ‘no-needle policy’ for the Gold Coast Games, athletes are not allowed to carry any syringes inside the Games Village or competition areas without prior permission for medicinal purpose. Even in such cases, the athletes have been advised to attach an ‘Injection Declaration Form’ and the usage has to be monitored by the Medical Commission of the organising committee.
“Failure to respect this CGF No Needle Policy… may expose the Athlete(s), the entourage of the Athlete(s), the CGA and members of its delegation as well as the Person(s) having administered the injection to disciplinary action, additional Testing and sanctions, as determined by the CGF Medical Commission,” the CGF advisory on the issue states.
Martin insisted they have a zero-tolerance approach to these matters. “When the Commonwealth Games Federation says no tolerance, the Commonwealth Games Federation means no tolerance,” Martin said.