Sports Minister to review weightlifting dope shame

Sports Minister MS Gill has decided to call a review meeting to discuss latest dope case involving Kavita Devi.

With the ghost of doping returning to haunt Indian weightlifting, Sports Minister MS Gill has taken strong exception to the latest dope case involving Kavita Devi and has decided to call a review meeting to discuss the menace.

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After weightlifters let down the nation at Athens Olympics and the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, Gill does not want to take any chances ahead of the Beijing Games, to be staged in August.

Kavita, a 75 kg weightlifter, was caught for using a banned substance in an out of competition test conducted by World Anti-Doping Agency officials in March but the Indian Weightlifting Federation disclosed it only a couple of days back.

Kavita's 'A' sample was found positive for banned steroid methadienone and she has refused to go for 'B' sample testing. She has been handed a two-year ban from participating in any national and international events besides imposing a fine of $2,000 which the Indian Federation will have to cough up if she did not pay.

It has been reliably learnt that Sports Minister's private secretary rang up Indian Weightlifting Federation office today and sought the details of how Kavita, training at the Lucknow SAI Cetre's Centre of Excellence, returned positive.