Athlete under suspension gets new ID, takes part in Delhi cross-country championship
The more things change, the more it remains the same. This phrase clearly shows how easy it is for athletes in New Delhi to change their identification cards to dodge sanctions.
Sachin Poswal, who was suspended after his samples showed presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers, took part in the Delhi State Cross-Country Championships that was held on December 29.
Sachin Poswal, took part as Sachin Gurjar in U-20 8 kilometres run and finished third. Not only has he changed his name, he has a different date of birth and father’s name as per his new identification that has been issued by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
Sachin’s old ID (ADLM200110) mentions his date of birth as March 3, 2006 while his father’s name is Rambabu Poswal. The new one (ADLM122467) states his date of birth as January 9, 2007, and his father’s name is Rambabu Gurjar.
Interestingly, in Sachin’s case is that the AFI had constituted a three-member committee composed of IPS officer Sagarpreet Hooda, lawyer Parth Goswami and chief coach P Radha Krishnan Nair to probe Sachin’s last year’s transgressions.
What is surprising is that athletes get this unique identification from AFI after submitting all the required papers, including date of birth certificates and Aadhaar card.
“I am not surprised that he got two different IDs issued. It is very easy if you know the right people,” said a Delhi runner on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, the Delhi State Athletics Association (DSAA) too was surprised how Sachin got under the radar and took part in the state meet. Sunita Rai, athletics coach and an executive member of DSAA, speculated that the athlete might have furnished a different Aadhaar card to get a new ID.
“We see a lot of athletes try to cheat like this. Recently I have got three IDs blocked by the AFI for the School Games. I suspect that this could only happen when someone has a different aadhar card,” Rai told The Tribune.
“I will also say that the technical officials would not know who is under dope suspension as they only go by the Bib numbers on the shirt and start list. So first we will try to find out how it has happened and then take appropriate action.
