NADA concludes hearing, decision on Narsingh's fate deferred

New Delhi The suspense over wrestler Narsingh Yadavs Olympic participation was today prolonged further after the National AntiDoping Agency deferred its final verdict on the doping scandal surrounding him to Saturday or Monday at the end of a twoday hearing hereA day after Narsingh and his lawyers presented their case on the failed dope test which according to them was a conspiracy against the grappler NADAs legal team gave its arguments against the sabotage theory before the disciplinary committeeHearing has been concluded today The judgment will come out either on Saturday or Monday NADAs lawyer Gaurang Kanth told reporters at the end of the hearing todayThe argument put forth by NADA is that hes not eligible for remission which he has been asking for because he has failed to establish that he did not commit any fault or negligence And since he has not been able to establish how the banned substance had entered his body we argued that he should be given punishment he saidNarsingh did not produce the relevant circumstantial evidence that there could have been sabotage as had been claimed by them They filed an affidavit that his drinks or water was spiked but they did not produce the evidence to prove it to satisfy NADA or WADA Code he arguedThe wrestler who has alleged the involvement of fellow grapplers in the conspiracy has already been replaced by Parveen Rana in the Olympic bound squad but will be reinstated if he gets a favourable verdict from NADANADAs lawyer however today said that Narsinghs claims of conspiracy or sabotage are not backed by sufficient proof The argument advanced by them is that they are eligible for remission under 104 of WADA Code But the argument put forth by NADA is that he is not eligible for remission because they have to show that he has no fault and negligence as far as contamination is concerned and they have to lead evidence to the extent that all these have been done without his knowledge and he has no clue how the substance detected had entered into his body Kanth saidRule 104 in WADAs 2016 Code says that If an athlete or other person establishes in an individual case that he or she bears no fault or negligence then the otherwise applicable period of ineligibility shall be eliminated They will only apply in exceptional circumstances for example where an athlete could prove that despite all due care he or she was sabotaged by a competitorWe argued that the requirements of due diligence and care which was needed to escape from punishment was not provided as to satisfy the WADA Code So we said he should be given punishment as appropriate this panel thinks fit We said as an international athlete he should have taken due care about his food and drinks But from what he had produced before the panel there was nothing to prove due care on his part Kanth saidNarsinghs hopes of competing in the Olympics had faded further after the wrestler failed a second dope test which was conducted on him on July 5 It is learnt that Narsingh already under provisional suspension for failing a June 25 dope test has also flunked the second test done on his A sample and refused the B sample testAsked about Narsinghs July 5 sample also returning positive the NADA lawyer said Both the test results were before this panel and both the results were considered The July 5 dope failure will be considered as a continuation of the June 25 dope failure as per the NADA Code It will be considered as one offenceEarlier yesterday Narsingh and his battery of lawyers presented their case We have put Narsinghs argument We have full faith in the NADA panel We are trying to convince them We are hopeful he will be exonerated NADA panel is helpful We have presented our argument today and panel was very patient and we had a very fair hearing NADA will present their case tomorrow Narsinghs lawyer Vidushpat Singhania had saidOn a second successive day of chaos at the NADA headquarters Narsinghs supporters shouted slogans demanding justice for himThe wrestler has also filed a police complaint implicating two fellow wrestlers However his supplements have reportedly been found to be cleanNarsingh filed an FIR at the Sonepat Police Station naming two fellow wrestlers one of them a 17yearold and persisted with his demand for a CBI probe into the scandal that has sent shockwaves into the Indian sporting fraternity The Wrestling Federation of India WFI has backed NarsinghSports Minister Vijay Goel on the other hand has stuck to his stand that the government will abide by international rules when it comes to deciding on Narsinghs trip to Rio in the aftermath of the controversyNarsingh had been picked ahead of twotime Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar after he won the quota place with a bronze medal in the World ChampionshipsFreestyle wrestler Rana had earlier won a gold medal in the 74kg category at the Dave Schultz Memorial wrestling tournament in USA in 2014