Fencing
Indian fencer fails doping test, puts blame on Viagra
Chunni Lal, an Indian fencer, was found guilty after his sample returned positive.
Every sport has had athletes who have been found guilty of doping. A majority of them subsequently served a ban for a period of time.
Athletes often make up ridiculous excuses to cover up the fact that they have tested positive for a banned substance. Michael Bresciani of Bardiani-CSF tested positive for a banned diuretic after the 2017 Italian national championships. His excuse for testing positive was, “The problem is that my mother takes Lasix for meals. In splitting the tablet, a few pieces might have got somewhere in my plate”, he said. Tyler Hamilton once blamed his “vanishing twin” for doping.
The latest to make an entry into that category of making ridiculous excuses is Chunni Lal, an Indian fencer, who was found guilty after his sample returned positive. Because he claimed he took an enhancer to improve his libido.
Chunni Lal admitted that he took Viagra. In his initial defence, he said that he had only taken particular medicines prescribed by the Sports Authority of India. But after his sample B returned and still tested positive he admitted to having taken Viagra.
“Somehow the panel was not convinced and gave an opportunity to the athlete to recollect and to reconsider his position in consultation with his advocate, as to whether he had received or was receiving treatment for a medical condition. After much hesitation, he admitted that a day before the dope test, he and his colleagues had consumed Viagra, purchased from a local chemist shop. However he did not have an invoice of the purchased tablet so there was no way to ascertain the exact nature of the consumed tablet,” National Anti-Doping Agency said in a statement.
However, he was still suspended for four years. “…As Chunni Lal failed in the above criterion and indulged in unsportsmanlike behaviour he was found liable for sanctions which made him ineligible for a period of four years starting from March 2019,” the report added. Chunni Lal said that the violation was “at best unintentional” as this particular drug was of no use in the sport of Fencing.
