Vijender gives samples for dope test

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

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

HT Image

"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. A NADA official refused to disclose if a heroin test would be done, 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 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.

Vijender had refused to be tested during his interrogation by the Punjab Police on March 11, following the March 3 drug bust at the house of NRI smuggler Anoop Singh Kahlon that dragged him into the mess.

On Wednesday, he said, "I never refused to undergo tests, my only contention was that it be conducted by a hi-tech agency like NADA."

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

Fatehgarh Sahib Police said the boxer claimed he had no ties to the relative, his brother-in-law Ravi Deol, but the statement was found to be untrue.

Inputs from Gurpreet Singh Mehak, Fatehgarh Sahib