The National Anti-Doping Agency on Wednesday sent a notice to wrestler Vinesh Phogat for failure to provide information about her place of residence and has sought a reply within 14 days. All the players registered in the NADA registered testing pool are required to give information about their availability for dope testing and Vinesh is also one of these players. If the player is not available at the place where he has given information, then it is considered a failure to provide information about the whereabouts.
In its notice, NADA told wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh that she had made a mistake by not disclosing her place of residence as she was not available for dope testing at her home in Kharkhoda village in Sonipat on September 9. Vinesh had announced her retirement from the sport after the disappointment of not winning a medal due to being overweight despite making it to the final at the Paris Olympics.
Vinesh and her fellow wrestler Bajrang Punia recently joined the Congress party and she is contesting the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections from Julana constituency. She is currently busy campaigning in the Julana constituency.
NADA’s notice said, “You are served a formal notice to inform you about the apparent failure to comply with the requirements relating to place of residence information under the anti-doping rules. You are asked to explain yourself before a final decision is taken on this matter.”
“A Dope Control Officer (DCO) was sent to the venue on that day to examine you but was unable to do so as you were not present at the venue,” it said.
Vinesh will either have to admit the violation or provide evidence that she was present at the place for about 60 minutes. But it may be mentioned here that failure to provide accommodation is not an anti-doping rule violation. NADA can charge an athlete only if he violates the rules related to venue information three times in 12 months.