POA sends back 11 medals to Nepal Olympic Committee

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) has sent back 11 athletics medals including two gold and nine bronze to the Nepal Olympic Committee through a courier service.

Three Pakistani athletes — Mehboob Ali (400m hurdles), Mohammad Naeem (110m hurdles) and Samiullah (100m sprint), were tested positive for anabolic androgenic steroids during the 13th South Asian Games held in Nepal in December 2019. The drug was aimed at rapid improvement in the performance.

The National Olympic Committee of Nepal with the consent of World Anti-Doping Authority then imposed a four-year ban on three athletes who were tested positive for the banned drugs besides stripping off the medals.

Later, the Nepal Olympic Committee demanded return of the medals from the POA. “We have returned 11 medals including two gold medals and nine bronze. Since the athletes were also part of relay races, all the members of relay teams (eight bronze plus one individual bronze) were also sent back to the NOC Nepal,” a POA official said.

After withdrawal of five medals (two gold and three silver) the athletics squad’s performance in the 13th edition of the Games reads as gold medals (three), silver (two), and bronze (three). In total Pakistan athletics squad won eight medals instead of 13 that was the aggregate at the end of the Games.