CHENNAI : In a major embarrassment for the Judo Federation of India, four junior judokas were handed suspensions for failing to give samples when Doping Control Officials came visiting at the Sports Authority of India Central Regional Centre in Bhopal last month. Add to this, the two who returned positive after the testing and the number of violations increases to six.

It has been reliably learnt that when dope control officials (DCOs) visited SAI for collecting samples during open trials to select teams for the Asian cadet and junior championships to be held in Taipei, four judokas failed to show up. It has been learnt that two judokas also returned positive for using banned substances — one has been put on provisional suspension while the other’s status is unclear.

As per World Anti-doping Agency rules, “(Article 10.3.1) For violations of Article 2.3 (evading, refusing or failing to submit to sample collection) or ... the period of ineligibility shall be four years unless, in the case of failing to submit to sample collection, the athlete can establish that the commission of the anti-doping rule violation was not intentional (as defined in Article 10.2.3), in which case the period of ineligibility shall be two years.”

Interestingly, the federation promptly acted against the errant judokas and, on the recommendation of the technical council, suspended them for four years, the harshest possible punishment. According to a top official, this was necessary to send the right message. Also, the JFI has written to the National Anti-Doping Agency about their decision. “If NADA allows, it is a different thing, which I don’t think they will, but as far as the federation goes, the four judokas remain suspended,” said a top official. The decisions have been endorsed by the JFI president. 

The objective of a four-year suspension was to set a precedent so that other judokas don’t indulge in doping. According to an official, they had to act because other judokas shouldn’t suffer because of the four. “The technical committee and the president felt they could not be allowed because it would be harsh on other players who were giving samples and those who were really putting an effort to perform,” said the official. “We cannot let that happen.” The secretary of the JFI Man Mohan Jaiswal confirm the cases and said they had imposed the harshest penalty as per WADA code on the recommendation of the technical committee.