The six Indian women athletes,who were caught for steroid doping last year, lost their casein the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne,Switzerland as it upheld the IAAF's appeal to impose two-yearban on them.
A NADA panel had handed a lenient one-year ban on the sixquartermilers, including Asian Games double gold medallistAshwini Akkunji, on the ground that they did not know that thefood supplement they have been provided by their coach containprohibited substance.
But the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) filedan appeal to the CAS against the NADA panel decision, statingthat the athletes should not be given any lenient treatmentand they should be banned for two years provided under therules.
The CAS today decided the case in favour of the IAAF andthe athletes will serve a two year ban.
"The IAAF's appeal has been upheld by CAS and the sixIndian athletes have lost their case. The operative part isnot known and it will come later," an Athletics Federation ofIndia source told PTI.
Besides Akkunji, the other five are 4X400m relay quartetmembers Sini Jose and Mandeep Kaur and three otherquartermilers Priyanka Panwar, Juana Murmu and Tiana MaryThomas. The period of their one-year ban by the NADA panelended last month.
The relay quartet of Akkunji, Mandeep, Sini and ManjeetKaur won gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games here and theAsian Games in China a month later. Akkunji became thetoast of the country after she also won the 400m hurdles inthe Asian Games also, only to be caught for doping later.
Manjeet ended her career after she allegedly refused togive samples to NADA officials in Patiala.