Ban looms for lifting body

The Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) is one dope offence away from another international ban.

Two lifters, Sukhen Dey and Anupdeo Toppo, are already in the dope net having tested positive in the Continental Clubs Grand Prix in Penang, Malaysia, last December.

Dey won gold in Malaysia and silver in the 56kg category of the Delhi Games. Toppo bagged silver in the 77kg category in Penang.

This means another offence in an international competition or failing a random test by the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) could spell doom for the India months after it paid $50,000 (Rs 22.5 lakh approx.) to the international federation to compete in the Delhi Games. The fine is for three or more dope offences in one calendar year.

The lifters, it was learnt, tested positive for methylhexaneamine. Dey and Toppo represented Service Sports Club (SSC) in Penang.

IWF secretary-general Sahdev Yadav said he hasn't heard anything. "The federation didn't approve the SSC team for the international club competition. It has nothing to do with the doping offence," he said. But the international federation's anti-doping rules say that three or more failed tests could mean an international ban (see box). For now, the IWF must also pay $10,000 (Rs 4.50 lak approximately as penalty for the offences.

While Toppo has been asked to leave Pune's Army Sports Institute (ASI), and join his battalion in Bhopal, Dey is till training at Pune. "We haven't got any official confirmation. How can be ask Dey to quit," asked an ASI official responsible for the sport's development in the army.