Wrestler Bajrang Punia, who was suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for the second time on June 24, accused the body of targeting him for pointing out flaws in their system. He also called the NADA arrogant and vowed to challenge it.
“This shows how NADA is targeting me, they don’t want me to continue wrestling at any cost. They have no answers and they don’t want to take responsibility for their mistakes. They just want to harass the athlete to get rid of him. NADA doesn’t want anyone to question their wrong ways and if someone does, he is targeted so that he cannot continue his sport,” Punia said on X.
Punia was initially suspended for refusing to provide his sample during the selection trials held in Sonepat on March 10. He had lost the trials and thus missed out on the chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
यह NADA द्वारा एक ही मामले में पहले निलंबन को निरस्त करने के बाद लगातार 2 महीनों में दूसरे निलंबन से संबंधित है। NADA ने उन्हें दिए गए सभी तथ्यों को स्पष्ट रूप से नजरअंदाज कर दिया और मुझे फिर से निलंबित कर दिया। यह दर्शाता है कि NADA मुझे कैसे निशाना बना रहा है, वे नहीं चाहते कि…
— Bajrang Punia 🇮🇳 (@BajrangPunia) July 1, 2024
The 30-year-old multiple-time World Championship medallist claimed that he never refused to give a sample but only sought an answer to why NADA sent an expired kit for sample collection in December 2023.
“Why doesn’t NADA answer about the expired kit? Why doesn’t NADA answer how an unregistered chaperone who was not named in the mission order approached and pressured me for sample collection? “Why doesn’t NADA answer why I was pressured to collect samples between two matches when they knew I had only 20 minutes to prepare for the next bout,” said Bajrang on Monday.
The wrestler also said that he his lawyer will file his reply on time.
“If NADA wants to challenge the grit and determination of wrestlers to stand up for their rights for the sake of their arrogance, let them do it. The wrestler is here and will fight till the end. My lawyer will file his reply on time,” he wrote.
