Ajay Thakur becomes the first Indian athlete ever to be suspended by NADA for his whereabouts failure
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National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) has provisionally suspended the star of India’s 2016 Kabaddi World Cup winning team, Ajay Thakur, according to a report in Times of India. Thereby, Thakur becomes the first Indian athlete in the history to be suspended by NADA for his whereabouts failure. It comes as a major blow to the 34-year-old Kabaddi player, who played a crucial role in India winning the World Cup at Ahmedabad in 2016.
Ajay, a Padma Shri and an Arjuna awardee, is also serving as the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) with Himachal Pradesh Police. He was reportedly served a violation notice last month under the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) regulations. Now, the 34-year-old Kabaddi player is facing a two-year suspension.
Ajay Thakur is in the registered testing pool (RTP). Hence, him failing to provide information three successive times within a period of 12 months amounts to a violation.
“Whereabouts information may include details such as home address, work schedule, training venues and schedule, and competition schedule anything which will help a Doping Control Officer (DCO) find the athlete on any given day,” according to the NADA website.
On 19th March 2021, the 34-year-old athlete was served the anti-doping rule violation notice under the article 2.4 of WADA.
“Any combination of three missed tests or filing failures by an athlete in a Registered Testing Pool (RTP) within a 12 month period is considered to be an anti-doping rule violation, subject to a two year ban,” reads the article 2.4 of WADA.
