Boxing
Parveen Hooda suspended for whereabouts violation, set to miss Paris Olympics
The 57kg boxer has been provisionally suspended for 18 months by WADA for accumuling three whereabouts failures within a year April 2022 to March 2023.
Russian and Belarusian athletes have been frozen out of the European pathway to the Paris Olympics. Asia is thus stepping in. (File Photo/Getty)
World Championships Bronze medalist Parveen Hooda has been provisionally suspended for 18 months by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), for accumulating three whereabouts failures in a year between April 2022 and March 2023, as per Hindustan Times.
As a result of this, the 57kg boxer is most certainly set to miss the upcoming Paris Olympics, in what will be a major hit on India's medal hopes in the summer showdown.
"The news has left us completely shattered," Hooda's coach Sudhir Hooda said to The Hindustan Times
Athletes who part of the Registered Testing Pool (RTP) are required to submit quarterly whereabouts updates.
According to WADA rules, “any combination of three whereabouts failures (filing failure and/or missed test) within a period of 12 months constitute an anti-doping rule violation, for which the applicable sanction is 2 years’ ineligibility subject to a reduction to a minimum of 1 year depending on your degree of fault.”
Unfortunately, there is no precedence of such a sanction being completely overturned. Even if the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) manages to get the suspension reduced, Parveen, and by extension India will end up losing the 57kg berth at the Paris Olympics.
BFI has hitherto remained cautious with their response to the whole situation. "We'll get clarity in a day or two but we are communicating with all possible channels to do what is best," BFI secretary general Hemanta Kalita said to the Hindustan Times
In her absence, the BFI has asked 60kg category boxer Jaismine Lamboria to gear up for the World Olympic Qualifiers that are scheduled in Bangkok from May 24 to June 2.
Besides Parveen, Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti (54kg), and Tokyo bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) have earned a qualification to the Paris Olympics.
