Indian boxer guilty of doping violation, Asian Games medal at risk

One of the Indian female boxers who won a medal at the Asian Games is at risk of being stripped of the medal and Paris Olympics quota due to multiple whereabouts failures notice by the International Testing Agency.

The boxer failed to file about her whereabouts before the continental showpiece and now stands on the verge of facing a maximum of two-year ban if found guilty.

The Olympic Council of Asia roped in the ITA to help in administering the anti-doping program at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) is, however, optimistic about a favorable resolution of the matter. As reported by PTI, a BFI official privy to the development said," The notice was for the period before the Asian Games and the federation got to know about it only after the Games. The boxer was in a disturbed state of mind during that time as one of her parents had been diagnosed with a serious medical condition."

What is Whereabouts failure?

One of the anti-doping violations is ‘whereabouts failure’. It is a combination of three ‘filing failures’ or ‘missed tests’ within 12 months that makes a ‘whereabouts failure’.

An athlete needs to update their accurate information on their whereabouts every quarter so that they can be located for out-of-competition testing.

In 2023 multiple Indian athletes have been summoned for whereabouts failure with Hima Das being provisionally suspended for the same.

Earlier this year, Wrestler Vinesh Phogat was also warned by NADA for failing to file about her whereabouts.

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar served her ban for the same reason while racewalker Bhawana Jat was suspended just before the World Athletics Championships in Budapest for the violation.