NADA suspends athletes, two coaches

Two more coaches -- Karamveer Singh and Rakesh -- were also suspended for “complicity” and “administration of prohibited substances” respectively

HYDERABAD: A slew of dope cases rocked Indian athletics, with junior national team chief coach Ramesh Nagpuri suspended by the NADA for “complicity” in doping while seven athletes were also in dock for “evading” tests, according to a PTI report from Delhi.

Two more coaches — Karamveer Singh and Rakesh — were also suspended for “complicity” and “administration of prohibited substances” respectively, the report mentioned.

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The report also mentioned that seven athletes suspended for “evasion” in the latest list of dope offenders published by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) were Paras Singhal, Pooja Rani, Nalubothu Shanmuga Sreenivas, Chelimi Pratusha, Shubham Mahara, Kiran and Jyoti.

For the record, Ramesh is based in Hyderabad and is the athletics coach at the Sports Authority of India Centre in the City and was appointed junior chief coach by the national federation in 2023 and also a Dronacharya Awardee.

Ramesh is also known for producing some of the outstanding athletes in the recent past, including Jyothi Yerrari and long back mentoring sprinter Dutee Chand to her maiden Olympics appearance after she was barred from international competition due to the IAAF’s Hyperandrogenism Regulations, which set a limit on naturally occurring testosterone levels for female athletes.

Interestingly, the AFI recently initiated the process of mandatory registration of coaches in the country, admitting the “involvement of the coaches in doping of their wards”.

During its Annual General Body Meeting in Chandigarh in January, the AFI decided to make it mandatory for all coaches — qualified and unqualified — in the country to register on its portal from this season onwards if they want to continue to train athletes to take part in competitions under the national body.

The report also said that the AFI will share this intelligence with the NADA and Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) established by World Athletics.

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