Pakistan wrestler Ali Asad banned for doping offence, stripped of Commonwealth Games bronze medal
Pakistan wrestler Ali Asad banned for doping offence, stripped of Commonwealth Games bronze medal
Pakistan wrestler Ali Asad has been banned for a doping offence and has also been stripped of his 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medal.
The Pakistan Wrestling Federation confirmed the development and added that Asad has been banned for a period of four years.
An official from the International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed that Asad took performance enhancing substances during the Commonwealth Games in 2022. “His tests carried out by the International Testing Agency (ITA) have confirmed he took performance enhancing drugs during the event,” an ITA official said.
The ITA launched a thorough investigation after Asad, who was tested right after the Games, did not go for a formal hearing and also did not respond to findings and allegations within the stipulated time.
The ITA’s investigation then revealed that Asad had taken performance enhancing drugs during the course of the event and a formal ruling was passed by the agency last week.
The issue of doping and Pakistan wrestling and weightlifting isn’t new. Some Pakistani athletes have faced a lot of bans from the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) and the ITA for failing dope tests, both during in-competition testing and out of competition testing too.
The IWF, in May this year, gave four-year bans to four Pakistani weightlifters for violating the rules of anti-doping. Wrestlers Abdur Rehman, Sharjeel Butt, Ghulam Mustafa and Farhan Amjad were suspended in 2022 after they refused to give samples to the ITA team in 2021.
The four weightlifters went to Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to defend themselves but the suspension remained.
Top Pakistan weightlifters including Talha Talib, who competed at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, and Abu Bakar Ghani were also found violating the anti-doping rules and were banned for two years for using banned and performance enhancing drugs or substances. Talha, who finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, is banned until February 2025.