Hyderabad: The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has given a whereabouts failure notice to Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat according to a report published by PTI. The report also adds that the agency has sought an explanation from Vinesh in 14 days.
The Indian wrestler was disqualified from the Paris Olympics in August for being overweight than the required eligibility criteria. She had then taken retirement from the sport saying she didn’t have the strength to continue via her social media handle.
All the athletes who are registered with NADA’s Registered Testing Pool (RTP) are required to provide the details about the availability to conduct dope tests. Vinesh is also part of RTP. If a player fills in the details and is not available at his location, then the agency considers it to be a whereabouts failure.
NADA, in their notice, mentioned that the Wrester-turned-politician has committed a whereabouts failure as she was not available for the dope test on September 9 at her residence in Kharkhoda village in Sonepat.
Vinesh and her compatriot Bajrang Punia joined the Indian National Congress (INC) recently and the former will be contesting in the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections.
"You are hereby given a formal notice to notify you about apparent failure to comply with the whereabouts requirements of the ADR, and to invite you to make any comments before we come to a final decision on the matter," the NADA notice read.
"A Dope Control Officer (DCO) was sent to test you on that day at that time and place. However, he was unable to locate you for testing as you were not available at the given location."
Vinesh now needs to either accept her failure to provide evidence or prove that she was present in that location for around 60 minutes. Notably, one whereabouts failure doesn't constitute for an anti-doping rule violation. However, three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period might culminate into charging an athlete by NADA.
