News : 22 rowers fail dope test, RFI to set up inquiry committee

In a rather unfortunate and flabbergasting incident, 22 rowers have been tested positive for probenecid, a drug which is banned by World Anti-Doping Agency. An investigation on the matter has been launched by the Rowing Federation of India as NADA called for the body to ‘introspect’ the matter. The sample collection of these rowers was collected in July last year during a training camp in Hyderabad. Pointing at the 11-month gap between sample collection and test results, RFI secretary MV Sriram said a procedural lapse could not be ruled out. However, NADA director general Navin Agarwal dismissed the theory saying that the 11-month gap does not matter and that it happened because soon after NADA collected the samples, National Dope Testing Laboratory was suspended and samples had to be sent to a laboratory outside India. The rowers have waived off their right to get their B samples tested since that the process will be carried out in Doha, where their urine samples were analyzed. For a B sample test, athletes have to be present themselves and the international travel restrictions rule out that possibility.