No move to strip Sandhu of Dronacharya Award yet

There is no move yet to withdraw the Dronacharya Award from Pal Singh Sandhu, whose services as lifting coach have been terminated.

There is no move as yet to withdraw the Dronacharya Award from Pal Singh Sandhu, whose services as chief weightlifting coach were terminated by the Government on Tuesday in the wake of Olympic Games dope fiasco.

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"Right now there is no such proposal," sources in the Sports Ministry said on Wedenesday even as speculation mounted that Sandhu's award may be taken away to set a strong precedent.

"One needs solid evidence to withdraw any award from either sportspersons or coaches and we do not have any incontrovertible facts as yet against him (Sandhu)," they said.

Sandhu and Belarussian expert Leonid Taranenko were on Tuesday sacked by the Government following the positive drug tests returned by women lifters — Pratima Kumari (63kg) and Sanamacha Chanu (53kg).

"Let the inquiry report by the Indian Olympic Association come out first, only then any decision in this regard would be taken," they said.

Asked if it meant that the coaches were fired without any concrete evidence, the sources said, "Their services have been terminated suo moto for negligence towards their wards".

Pratima was barred from participating in the competition after she returned a positive test for anabolic steroid testosterone in a pre-Olympic dope test while Chanu's sample taken after her event showed traces of a banned diuretic susbstance.

Another lifter Karnam Malleswari, who had won a bronze medal at the Sydney Games four years ago, was unable to complete even a single lift and retired from the 63kg division competition.