Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia handed four-year ban for avoiding dope test

Punia, who was astatine the forefront of protests against erstwhile wrestling assemblage main Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, says helium is guiltless and did not garbage testing.

India’s Olympic medal-winning wrestler Bajrang Punia, who took portion successful protests against the country’s erstwhile wrestling assemblage main successful 2023, has been banned for 4 years for avoiding a doping test.

Punia, 30, who won bronze astatine the Tokyo Olympics, had been provisionally suspended for refusing to supply a urine illustration to nationalist anti-doping bureau (NADA) officers successful March.

Punia contested the charges and the suspension was initially lifted, but helium has since been handed a ban, according to a NADA connection connected Tuesday.

Punia has maintained his innocence, saying helium did not garbage investigating but was wary of what helium said was an expired kit that officials brought to instrumentality his sample.

Many of India’s apical wrestlers led a noisy sit-in protestation successful New Delhi against the then-chief of the Wrestling Federation of India, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a person from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party.

The protesting wrestlers demanded Singh’s removal implicit allegations of groping pistillate athletes and demanding intersexual favours from them.

The 66-year-old denied each charges and claimed helium was the unfortunate of a conspiracy to unit him retired of parliament.

Punia alleged the investigating prohibition was portion of Singh’s revenge for his protests.

Wrestling is hugely fashionable successful agrarian bluish India, and prima athletes saw a wellspring of nationalist support.

Punia, on with chap protestation wrestler and Olympian Vinesh Phogat, person since joined the absorption Congress Party.

The World Anti-Doping Agency says India recorded the world’s highest fig of cause cheats successful 2022 – the latest twelvemonth for which figures are available.

India was the lone state to person much than 100 affirmative results, with countries that tested much athletes specified arsenic China, the United States and Russia producing less violations.

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