‘NADA doesn’t want me to continue wrestling’ – Firstpost

Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia said the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) is “targeting” him for a second suspension in two months because they “don’t want” him to continue wrestling. Bajrang was first suspended by NADA in early May for failing to submit a urine sample during the selection trials in Sonepat on March 10. His suspension was later overturned by the National Anti-Doping Agency Disciplinary Panel (ADDP) in June, but the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist was suspended again two weeks ago.

Bajrang, who led the wrestlers’ protest against former BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, has now accused the national body of conspiring against him.

“This comes as a second suspension in 2 consecutive months after NADA withdrew the first suspension in the same case,” Bajrang wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “NADA clearly ignored all the facts given to them and suspended me again. This shows how NADA is attacking me, they don’t want me to continue wrestling at any cost.”

After the first suspension, Bajrang said he had no problem giving the sample but wanted to know why NADA officials had brought an “expired kit” for sample collection.

In his recent post, Barjang asked the same questions and added that he was ready to “fight till the end.”

“They have no answers and don’t want to take responsibility for their mistakes, they just want to harass the athlete to get rid of them… NADA doesn’t want anyone to question their misconduct, and if anyone does, they become a target so they can’t continue playing sports… Why is NADA not responding regarding the expired kit?

Why is NADA not answering the question of how an unregistered handler whose name was not mentioned in the mission order approached me and pressured me to take samples? Why isn’t NADA answering the question why they pressured me to take samples between two matches when they knew I only had 20 minutes to prepare for the next fight?

“If NADA wants to challenge the determination and courage of wrestlers who want to fight for their rights because of their arrogance, then let them do so.

“The wrestler is here and he will fight until the end. My lawyer will respond in due time.”