New Delhi April 17:
In
a relief for Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh, the Sports
Ministry said on Tuesday that his blood and urine samples returned
negative for banned substances, including psychotropic drugs.
The
Punjab police had earlier alleged that the boxer had consumed heroin
"12 times" between December 2012 and February 2013. However, the result
is along expected lines as experts had said it is difficult to find
traces of heroin in blood and urine samples, especially as the boxer had
allegedly taken the drug over two months before the test was conducted.
The National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) collected Vijender's samples on
April 3. Vijender could not be reached for comment.
Sports
secretary P K Deb said a "full menu" test was conducted on the boxer
because he had not given his samples to NADA for almost a year. "A
thorough out-of-competition test was conducted on him, including a test
for heroin. The tests were carried out only on his blood and urine
samples and they were negative," said Deb. Four other boxers who were
tested with Vijender also returned negative tests. Deb said that as far
as the sports ministry is concerned, the case is now closed unless
strong evidence comes up against Vijender during police investigations.
However,
the boxer will not be allowed to return to the national camp as yet.
"We are glad that he has tested negative for heroin but he continues to
remain ineligible for the national camp. He chose to stay away from it
despite being warned several times and rules are the same for everyone.
So he won't be allowed for the ongoing camp and a couple of tournaments.
He will be able to join rest of the boxers only during the next
scheduled camp," said Deb. He added that they will be more vigilant
regarding out-of-competition tests in future. "If we conduct more tests,
it will act as a deterrent as there will more chances of the athlete
getting caught. After this case, we will be very strict when it comes to
conducting drug tests," Deb said.
He
added that they will be more vigilant regarding out-of-competition
tests in future. "If we conduct more tests, it will act as a deterrent
as there will more chances of the athlete getting caught. After this
case, we will be very strict when it comes to conducting drug tests,"
Deb said. Vijender's name had cropped up after his wife's car was found
outside Canada-based Anoop Singh Kahlon's Zirakpur flat, from where
heroin worth Rs 130 crore was recovered. The investigating officers had
earlier demanded Vijender's hair samples for testing, saying it was
likely to provide more conclusive results.
