Sport - Weightlifting

Slamma resigns

NEW DELHI: The foreign coach of the Indian weightlifting team, Magad Slamma, has resigned alleging doping practices among top Indian lifters.

The resignation, dated January 23, has been addressed to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Director General, Ratan Watal, with a copy to the Indian Weightlifting Federation.

Watal said on Monday that he had received a communication from the coach and had set up a committee headed by the federation President, Harbhajan Singh, to look into the matter. The panel, which would include the Government observer, former international E. Karunakaran, would visit Patiala and assess the situation before recommending the next step.

Slamma, who is at Patiala, is learnt to have alleged that the leading Indian lifters were indulging in doping practices and there could be a possibility that fingers could be pointed at him in future should anything go wrong. He was concerned about the prospects of blood testing and such samples being stored for a long term for possible detection of banned substances at a future date, an official of the Indian federation said on Monday.

Slamma’s response to an offer from SAI to get the lifters tested at an accredited laboratory abroad was not encouraging, it is learnt. The coach is said to be concerned that performance levels had dropped considerably in some cases after the National championships last December, raising doubts about the true capacity of the lifters.

The Indian federation Secretary argued that it was only natural for the lifters to lose some form because of the break between the Nationals and the camp that started on January 17.That something could be amiss in weightlifting was known when news trickled in from Patiala that the National camp was prematurely closed on Sunday. The reason, explained by SAI, was the lack of attendance at the camp for seniors and juniors.

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