Boxer Vijender Singh says he will come clean

Beijing Olympics hero Vijender Singh on Wednesday finally gave his urine and blood samples to the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for a test even as police arrested his sparring partner Ram Singh. Saurabh Duggal reports

Beijing Olympics hero Vijender Singh on Wednesday finally gave his urine and blood samples to the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for a test even as police arrested his sparring partner Ram Singh.

"I gave my samples to NADA this morning,” the bronze-winning boxer told HT from Delhi. “I am sure it will come out clean and my name will be cleared."

The results are expected on Thursday evening. A NADA official refused to disclose if a heroin test would be conducted, saying, “Under WADA rules, we can’t disclose what tests we are conducting.”

The 27-year-old agreed to the test two days after Punjab Police claimed he had done heroin 12 times, and the Union sports ministry asked NADA to test him. The agency initially refused, saying a heroin test didn’t come under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) protocol for out-of-competition testing. But with minister Jitendra Singh personally stepping in, it sent a team to Vijender’s Delhi home for his samples.

The minister on Wednesday said the boxer should go to rehab if the test comes out positive.

Earlier, Vijender had refused to provide his samples to Punjab Police during his interrogation on March 11. “I never refused to undergo tests, but my only contention was that it (test) should be conducted by a hi-tech agency like NADA,” said Vijender. “From day one I had maintained that I had never consumed heroin or any other drugs and I stand by it and the results will prove it.”

Meanwhile, another big drug haul (5kg metamphetamine, 90kg pseudophedrine) on Sunday from the premises of a relative led to Ram Singh’s arrest on Wednesday.