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LAHORE A two-member anti-doping disciplinary panel on Monday banned national athletes Sadaf Siddiqui and Javeria Hasan for two years each after they tested positive for doping last week during preparations for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) had appointed an inquiry commission comprising Director General Pakistan Olympic Association (POA), Major (retd.) Mohammad Afzal and Pakistan Medical Commission's vice chairman Meesaq Rizvi and they announced the decision to impose bans on the two female athletes on Monday.
The athletes can appeal before the appellate tribunal within the next 14 days.
Major Afzal told Dawn that the panel had recommended the ban to the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) after receiving the results of the second dope tests of the two athletes.
The dope tests of only Sadaf and Javeria were conducted on the instructions of PSB after they finished on top in the 100-metre trials held to select the team for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games, to be held in India in Oct this year.
According to reports, the doping sample of Javaria, an athlete of Wapda, has a very high quantity of banned substance Nandrolone while Sadaf's sample carried the banned substance of Stanozolol.
Sources close to the Athletic Federation of Pakistan (AFP) told Dawn on condition of the anonymity that almost every female and male national athlete was using banned substances these days.
“If the Pakistan Sports Board conducts the dope test of 100 men and women athletes, I am sure 85 of them will test positive,” said one of the sources.
After the shameful incident, Pakistan is unlikely to field any men or women athletes in the upcoming Asian or Commonwealth Games.
Two years back, the dope tests of three athletes were conducted and all proved positive. Interestingly, the gold medallist of the last South Asian Games, Naseem Hameed did not appear in the trials.
