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Seema Punia may have to pay dearly for AFI's ignorance

Incheon Asiad discus gold medallist's tainted past may stand in the way of her selection for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards

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Asian Games gold medallist discus thrower Seema Punia may have to feel sorry for the Athletics Federation of India's (AFI) ignorance.

The AFI has recommended the name of 2014 Incheon gold medallist for this year's coveted Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. But, the Haryana discus thrower might have to pay dearly for AFI's ignorance of rules while sending her application to the sports ministry.

Seema's dope-tainted past could severely affect her chances of getting the highest sporting honour when the Awards Committee will meet soon to select the recipients of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award.

According to the rules for sports awards, any person who was found to have used a prohibited or scheduled substance cannot be given the Khel Ratna or the Arjuna Award. And the recent example of triple jumper Renjith Maheshwary, who was denied the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2013 after he was found to have used a 'scheduled' substance (ephedrine) back in 2008, is one such example.

Actually, Seema sent her representation to the AFI for the 2014-15 Rajiv Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award last month with Incheon's gold and Glasgow's Commonwealth Games silver performances in mind.

It was in fact AFI's duty to check the credentials of any athlete before forwarding his or her name for Khel Ratna to the sports ministry. In 2000, Seema was stripped of her gold medal after testing positive for pseudoephedrine. In 2006 also, she decided to opt out of the Asian Games after testing positive for a steroid (stanozolol).

If a top ministry official is to be believed, then Seema's application would itself stand rejected based on this rule. "If the AFI has recommended her name for the award, then the Awards Committee might reject her case. We will see when her application will come up for the discussion," a senior official told dna.

One cannot doubt Seema's credentials as the country's premier discus thrower but the AFI should have been careful while forwarding her application to the ministry.

A top AFI official washed off his hands by merely putting the finger at the awards committee members. "I have no idea about the recommendations. There is a separate Awards Committee of the AFI chaired by head coach Bahadur Singh. You ask him," he said.

When contacted Bahadur, he merely stated that "Seema is one of the leading athletes of the country and deserves the honour."

However, Seema had another story to tell.

"I know about my dope-tainted past, but I was never banned for that offence in 2000. I was just a teenager when that incident happened and was warned by the AFI not to repeat such mistake in the future. I was cleared of the doping charge in 2006. So, how could one talk about rejecting my application or that the AFI shouldn't have sent it to the ministry? I am also considering applying for Padma Award this year," said the athlete.

Seema was right in saying that she was never banned. As per the prevailing rules in force in 2000, the AFI issued her a public warning after stripping her of the medal. But, it was her absence from the 2006 Asian Games that raised quite a few eyebrows.

She had tested positive for a steroid (stanozolol) prior to the Games, but was cleared to participate by the AFI. She, however, opted out of the team for the Games due to some unknown reasons.

"In the case of Renjith, he was found to have used a banned substance and was subsequently banned for three months," Seema tried to differentiate between the two cases.

Seema may have reasons to believe that her case is different from that of Maheshwary, but the fact remains that there are clear rules to disqualify any dope-tainted athlete from getting the coveted national awards.

According to a NADA official, the only thing which could go in her favour is that she is part of the ministry's 'TOP' scheme for Rio Olympics and that she has been a medallist in the last two major championships – CWG and Asian Games. "This all might prompt the Awards Committee to rethink about her chances and confer her the award," the official said.

It would really in interesting to see how Seema's case would be treated by the Khel Ratna Committee in the coming days. But one thing is for sure that if she is cleared for this top honour, Maheshwary will have reasons to call 'bias'.

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