Two-time Commonwealth Games champion Indian weightlifter Sanjita Chanu has been banned for four years by the disciplinary panel of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for failing a dope test last year.
Sanjita had tested positive for an anabolic steroid – Drostanolone metabolite, which is on the banned list of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) during the National Games in Gujarat in September-October last year.
His sample was taken for dope test on 30 September 2022 during the competition. The NADA panel headed by Chaitanya Mahajan said in its report, ‘It is considered that the player has violated Article 2.1 and 2.2 of NADA ADR, 2021, therefore he will be fined four (as per Article 10.2.1 of NADA ADR, 2021) 04) is banned for the year.
Sanjita’s ban will start from 12 November 2022 when she was provisionally suspended. According to the order, ‘The period of suspension will be considered to start from the date of temporary suspension, 12 November 2022. The player failed to satisfy the Panel that the ADRV was unintentional as per Article 10.2.1.1 of the NADA ADR 2023.’
This is a big blow for Sanjita. He had won a silver medal in the National Games which has been taken away. His reaction to this new development could not be obtained. Sanjita won the gold medal in the 48 kg weight category at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014. In 2018, he won the gold medal in Gold Coast in the 53 kg category.
The Manipur player still has the option of appealing against the decision but it is not certain whether she will do so. She can appeal to the Appellate Panel of NADA within 21 days of receiving the decision. Sanjita herself presented her side during the hearing. He had deliberately denied taking the banned drug.
He had said that he had taken utmost care in taking food and supplements. “The present case appears to be a case of systematic doping where the athlete had used a banned substance,” the panel said. “No evidence was found to establish that the athlete has consumed any such banned substance through adulterated food, supplement or medicine,” the panel said. This leads to the conclusion that the sportsperson intentionally consumed the said banned substance to increase strength and power.
Other members of the panel included former hockey players Jagbir Singh and RK Arya. This is not the first time that the 2011 Asian Championships bronze medalist is facing a doping controversy. Earlier in November 2017, he was banned by the International Weightlifting Federation in 2018 after testing positive for the anabolic steroid testosterone ahead of the World Championships in the US.
The world body, however, cleared him of the charges in 2020. Sanjita had said in January, ‘I have gone through this kind of situation before but I do not understand how this happened. Till this incident, I was very careful about my food and everything I did. I was also careful about his supplements and I asked if he was dope free.
