Narsingh, WFI call for CBI inquiry

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 25

Narsingh Pancham Yadav and the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Monday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the shocking doping scandal, which has ruled out the 74kg freestyle wrestler’s participation at the Rio Olympics.

Yadav, who alleged a conspiracy against him, has named a senior Sports Authority of India (SAI) official posted at the Sonepat regional centre and a few others, including a player, in his written complaint to WFI.

“There should be a CBI inquiry into the matter. There was a CID report that my life was under threat. I have been framed and something was mixed in my food at the Sonepat centre mess so that I can’t go to Rio,” Yadav said.

WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, while defending the wrestler to the hilt, said that Yadav had been warned by SAI DG Injeti Srinivas not to train at the national camp in Sonepat because of the threat to his life.

“Even after Haryana police’s report that Narsingh’s life is in danger, the wrestler chose to train at Sonepat, saying that the chief coach, foreign coach and other Rio probables are practising there. I am demanding a CBI inquiry,” he said.

Yadav will appear before a NADA panel on Wednesday to plead his innocence, but according to a senior SAI official the panel is not mandated to exonerate the grappler. “It has been formed to decide the quantum of punishment, whether to let him off with a warning or ban him for a certain period of time. Narsingh has already been put under provisional suspension by NADA. The conspiracy can only be established by an investigating agency after the filing of a criminal case,” the official informed.

Meanwhile, Sports Minister Vijay Goel has also virtually ruled out Yadav’s participation in Rio, adding that the case will be heard as per the World Anti-Doping Agency rules.