Athletes Doping Probe: Dr Waqar withdraws name from committee

ISLAMABAD: Anti-Doping Organisation of Pakistan Chairman Dr Waqar Ahmad has withdrawn his name from a six-member committee formed by the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) to hear athletes found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs during the 13th South Asian Games held in Nepal in December.

In a letter addressed to the AFP, Waqar said: “Thank you for your e-mail. As I informed telephonically also that as Chairman Anti Doping Org. Of Pakistan I cannot be a part of Result Management or disciplinary committee according to WADA result management guide/code. I regret to say that I may not be available for subject committee.”

A five-member committee including Brig (r) Sultan Mehmood Satti, Dr Noreen Satti, Syed Habib Shah, Salman Iqbal Butt and Mohammad Zafar (secretary AFP) will now hear athletes and finalise its recommendations. ‘The News’ has learnt that the organising committee has given the AFP less than 10 days to forward its recommendations.

One of the pertinent questions is whether the AFP conducted any tests on the athletes before their departure for the SA Games. Usually all federations perform these tests to avoid bringing a bad name to the country. The committee has to furnish details whether these athletes underwent any tests previously in Pakistan, especially before the contingent’s departure to Nepal, or were they ever involved in using artificial means to improve their performance.

It has also been learnt from well-placed sources that two of the three athletes found guilty of doping — 400m hurdles gold medallist Mehboob Ali and 110m hurdles winner Muhammad Naeem have opted for Sample B tests while 100m bronze medallist Samiullah has decided against it. These athletes will appear before the committee in seven days to give their final decision on the second tests.

The parent federation or athletes have to bear the expenditure to be incurred on Sample B tests, in case they are found positive again.