LAHORE: The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) has written a letter to the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) to get the dope test of ‘B’ samples of its three athletes, the medal winners of the 2019 South Asian Games, who tested positive in the early test conducted by the organising committee of the regional games hosted by Nepal in December.

The AFP, which formed a committee to deal with the case, last week suspended the athletes, without going to have the report of test of their ‘B’ samples.

There are reports that neither the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) nor any other institution allows the AFP to take a decision in such a case due to the fact that the federation has also become a party — by selecting the three athletes to appear in the said games.

According to the laws of WADA whose headquarters is in Montreal, athletes can challenge the test report of their ‘A’ sample. And after receiving such request from the aggrieved athlete, the WADA-accredited lab concerned, which has reserved a ‘B’ sample of the athlete could again test it. Whoever opts for the ‘B’ sample test, all the expenditure of this test will have to be paid.

Pakistan at the 2019 South Asian Games won 132 medals, including 32 gold. The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has also awarded cash prizes to a number of medal winners of these games.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2020