Indian wrestler Sumit Malik has been banned for two years by the United World Wrestling (UWW) after his B sample also returned positive for a prohibited stimulant.
The 28-year-old has one week to decide if he would accept the sanction or challenge it. In a jolt to the Indian wrestlers’ campaign in the Tokyo Olympics, 125kg freestyle wrestler Malik had tested positive for the banned substance methylhexaneamine (MHA).
As per World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of prohibited substances, MHA is prohibited in-competition only as a specified stimulant.
The WADA Code says, “when an Adverse Analytical Finding is received for a prohibited substance or a prohibited method, other than a specified substance, a provisional suspension shall be imposed promptly…”
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“The UWW has said that Sumit’s ‘A’ sample is positive. His ‘B’ sample is expected to be tested around June 10,” a WFI official had told this publication.
Malik was tested during the World Olympic qualifier in Sofia, Bulgaria, last month.
Eight Indian wrestlers, four each in men and women’s freestyle, have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.
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Four years ago, before the Rio Olympics, 74kg wrestler Narsingh Yadav had failed a dope test and was withdrawn from the Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) handed the Indian wrestler a four-year suspension for the doping violation.
