KOCHI: The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has decided to impose a fine to the tune of Rs 5 lakh on athletes who fail dope tests during the national championships — a contentious move that could ruffle a few feathers within the wrestling fraternity.
The draft to impose the fine, which will be in addition to the ban imposed by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), was up for discussion during the WFI’s Annual General Body Meeting held in Indore on Friday. As per sources, the draft got unanimous support and final ratification from the attendees.
One of the attendees said that the decision was a continuation of the anti-doping policy of United World Wrestling (UWW), the international wrestling body.
“If a wrestler is banned for doping by NADA, we will impose the fine additionally. This will be applicable for the senior, junior and sub-junior wrestlers, both male and female. We want to adopt a zero-tolerance stance towards dope cheats,” he said.
When Express contacted WFI secretary VN Prasood, he acknowledged that such a decision has been taken. “The decision has been taken to dissuade wrestlers from resorting to unfair practices. The UWW also has a similar policy. If any wrestler of ours fail a dope test in international competitions, we will be fined `15 lakh. Both country and federation will also be disgraced,” he said.
However, the decision has not gone down well with some sections of the wrestling fraternity. Vinod Kumar, coach of Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, opined that the move will end careers of wrestlers who get embroiled in the dope mesh.
“First of all, I don’t know if such a rule has been enacted. If it’s so, then I would say it’s in bad taste. The ban itself is a punishment for dope offenders. If such an amount is imposed as fine, it will be the end of the wrestler’s journey,” he said. Prasood, however, maintained that the fine was kept to `5 lakhs so that it would deter grapplers from taking easy routes to success.
A WFI member also said that Narsingh’s dope scandal and a positive test by a grappler who finished fifth in the recent national championship precipitated such a move. “It seldom matters how you fell into the vortex. You jumped or somebody threw you there, it’s of no significance. Narsingh’s case — though we all believe he was trapped — brought us a bad name. We have to clean up the mess and also lift our reputation from the muck.”
However, WFI office-bearers went too soft on coaches of dope-tainted athletes as they won’t be punished for their wards’ offences. The WFI was also clueless on how to extract the penalty from sub-junior wrestlers.
shan.as@newindianexpress.com