The National Anti-Doping Agency punished Bajrang Punia for four years on Tuesday after he refused to offer a sample for a drug test on March 10 during national team selection trials. On April 23, NADA suspended the Tokyo Games bronze medalist wrestler for the violation, and the World Governing Body UWW followed suit. Bajrang had appealed the provisional suspension, which NADA’s Anti-Disciplinary Doping Panel (ADDP) had annulled on May 31 till NADA issued the notice of charge.
On June 23, NADA served the wrestler with a notice. Bajrang, who joined Congress along with fellow wrestler Vinesh Phogat and was assigned charge of the All India Kisan Congress. had filed a written statement challenging the charge on July 11, with hearings scheduled for September 20 and October 4.
“The Panel holds that the Participant is liable for sanctions under Article 10.3.1 and liable for disqualification for 4 years,” the ADDP stipulated in its ruling. Because of his suspension, Bajrang will be unable to return to competitive wrestling or apply for a coaching position abroad.
“In the instant case, because the Athlete had been temporarily suspended, the Panel therefore holds that the Athlete’s period of ineligibility for four years shall begin on the date the notification was delivered, i.e., 23.04.2024.
“Needless to state that on behalf of the lifting of the temporary suspension for the duration from 31.05.2024 to 21.06.2024 shall not be added into the total period of ineligibility that is four years.” Bajrang has argued from the beginning that his participation in the protest against previous WFI President Brit Bhushan Sharan Singh resulted in severely unfair and unjust treatment in the context of doping testing.
Bajrang further asserted that he never refused to provide a sample, but rather demanded NADA’s response to his email in which he inquired as to why outdated kits were sent to collect his samples in December 2023.