Rio 2016: Global anti-doping body puts Narsingh, WFI on the mat

The going is getting worse for Narsingh Pancham Yadav.

The Indian wrestler's Olympic dream is in doubt after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decided to appeal against the clean chit given to him by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) in a dope scandal.

Narsingh, whose bout is on August 19, faces a career-ending four-year ban if the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) upholds WADA's appeal.

The wrestler hasn't had a smooth leading up to the Games. First, he had to fight court cases to get a ticket for the mega event. Then he was made to go through "what was called a conspiracy to fix him in dope taint" and now he has been fooled by his own Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) over the status of his participation on August 19 here.

dna has repeatedly been asking the WFI about the status of Narsingh's case, and why was there such a conspicuous silence over the WADA's stand on the clean chit given to Narsingh?

There was no answer. Instead, WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was "damn sure that Narsingh will be fighting on August 19 here".

On Tuesday, he was called by WADA, along with Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretary general Rajiv Mehta, to hand over summons for the August 18 hearing on the case.

"We've handed over summons to our lawyer and the case will be cleared on August 18, before Narsingh's bout on 19th," was how Brij Bhushan's reacted.

Narsingh is scheduled to open his Rio campaign in the 74-kg freestyle category on Friday. And going by how Russian athletes have been barred from participating in the Games, there is every possibility that India's entry into the 74-kg category will go "blank" as the WFI has already withdrawn Praveen Rana's name from the final draw.

"Our lawyer has already acknowledged the WADA letter. We will put a strong defence for Narsingh. He has a good chance of getting cleared," Brij Bhushan sounded hopeful a bit later.

Narsingh first returned positive for a banned steroid following a dope test on June 25 by the NADA. And the same agency exonerated him of all the doping charges on August 1 after postponing the verdict twice in July, saying he "was a victim of sabotage".

Immediately, WFI communicated to the world's apex wrestling body, the United World Wrestling (UWW), on August 1 that NADA has cleared Narsingh of all doping-related charges and the 26-year-old would be re-included in the team for the 74-kg competition.

The global body gave the green light to Narsingh for participation on August 3, without realising that WADA had not come into the picture till then. Narsingh was rushed to the Games Village here and he started practising with other wrestlers.

It was then that dna asked the WFI president whether there was any clearance from WADA.

The WFI president ridiculed the question. "He is here in the Village and has been practising with others. How come he has been allowed to come here without any clearance?" was his counter-question.

However, when asked to show if there was any communication from WADA, clearing Narsingh's case, Brij Bhushan retorted: "Come and see him fight on August 19. Only that will satisfy you."

Now that CAS has listed the case for hearing, the big question is: why was WADA not taken into confidence by the WFI before replacing Rana with Narsingh in the final draw?

With over 100 athletes from Russia fighting similar cases in CAS, allowing Narsingh to compete here would be like opening a Pandora's box for the WADA.

Narsingh's case has also put NADA's reputation at stake. This quick change in NADA's stand on Narsingh has not gone down well with WADA. The world agency did not give Narsingh or the WFI a clean chit on the issue though the UWW gave a green signal to the wrestler.

Now, as WADA has stepped in, the chances look bleak for the grappler.