Banned athlete hoodwinks federation for third time

Middle-distance runner Sachin Poswal once again proved that it is easy for dope-tainted athletes to compete under a different name. Sachin, who is serving a four-year suspension that gets over in January 2028, took part in the National Junior (U20) Federation Athletics Championships, currently underway at Prayagraj, in both the 1500m and 3000m heats.

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He participated under a new name, Rachin Gujjar, and topped the preliminary Heat 1 in 1500m with a timing of 3:56.53. In the 3000m, he finished 16th with a timing of 8:35.74.

When The Tribune reached out to the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to get information as to how a suspended athlete was allowed to take part in a major championship, the result sheet in the 1500m event was updated and Rachin is shown as a disqualified athlete. Neither competition manager Ravinder Chaudhary, who was former secretary general of the AFI, nor former AFI president Adille Sumariwalla, who is now the spokesperson for the body, was unavailable for comments.

Interestingly, Sachin, alias Rachin, with a date of birth of 28-12-2005 has previously hoodwinked the authorities to take part in national meets.

In June last year, he took part in the Delhi State Summer Athletics Meet and competed in the 1500m, finishing fourth. He was to take part in the 3000m race in the Indian Grand Prix 3 that was held in Bengaluru.

Last December, Sachin took part as Sachin Gurjar in the U-20 8km run and finished third in the Delhi State Cross-Country Championships. He had a different date of birth and father’s name as per his fresh identification by the AFI.

Sachin’s old ID (ADLM200110) mentioned his date of birth as March 3, 2006, while his father’s name was Rambabu Poswal. The new one (ADLM122467) states his date of birth as January 9, 2007, and his father’s name as Rambabu Gurjar.

Interestingly, 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.