IWF president Dora sense foul play in doping scandal at Melbourne

New Delhi, Apr 5 (UNI) Eureka! After second suspension in as many years, the Indian Weightlifting Federation seems to have found the cause behind the recurring problem of doping -- the foreign hand.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a luncheon to honour medal winners at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, IWF president H J Dora today sounded suspicious over a possible foul play by the dope testing laboratories.

May be certain elements are jealous at our success at international competitions,'' he said, but added, ''we cannot substantiate such claims.'' He however gave a clean chit to Melbourne Games organising committee.

''The hospitality in Melbourne was excellent and We cannot point a finger at them,'' he said adding a footnote, ''But one never knows about the dope testing laboratories.'' The IWF was recently suspended by the international body after four of its lifters -- Edwin Raju, Tejinder Singh, Shailja Pujari and B Prameelavalli -- were tested positive for banned stanozole within a month. Out of the four, Raju and Tejinder Singh failed the test during the Games bringing ignominy to the country.

Clearly upset over the issue, Indian contingent's Chef-de-mission Dora said it was really unfortunate that the menace of doping continued to occur at alarming frequency despite efforts.

He said the two lifters -- Raju and Tejinder -- were tested negative before leaving for Melbourne and were warned of the dire consequences if they failed or evaded tests.

Meanwhile, the IWF president gave the coaches a clean chit.

''Why, of all, would a coach induce just one or two lifters to use performance enhancing drugs?'' he asked.

UNI DH PM RK2010