After days of uncertainty, the sports ministry on Thursday decided not to confer athlete Renjith Maheswary with the prestigious Arjuna Award as the triple jumper had been found to have used a ‘scheduled’ substance (ephedrine) in 2008.
Maheswary, named among the Arjuna awardees of the year, was asked to “wait” hours before the ceremony here on August 31 under dramatic circumstances.
After days of detailed investigations, the ministry came to a conclusion that Maheswary was found to have used ephedrine during the 46th national athletics championships in Kochi.
“The ministry therefore, with considerable regret, announces that the Arjuna Award for 2013 will not be conferred on Renjith Maheswary.
“The ministry has also noted with disquiet, the failure of the Athletics Federation of India to provide full details of the case,” a release stated.
“In the absence of records from the AFI, the details of the event had to be reconstructed from other sources. The AFI has been asked to explain this inability to provide critical information. They have also been asked to explain how they nominated Shri Maheswary for the Arjuna Award in the first place.”
The ministry also put in place a new set of “standard operating practices” so that such incidents are not repeated in future.
Maheswary’s sample was collected on September 8, 2008 and given to the National Dope Testing Laboratory on September 15. The NDTL on October 3, 2008 analysed the A sample of Maheswary and reported levels of ephedrine far above the expected mark.
Maheswary had not reported using ephedrine for medicinal purposes during the collection of the sample and was suspended by the AFI pending enquiry.
The case was heard by the enquiry committee of the AFI and Maheswary was given an opportunity to present his case as well. The triple jumper, however, did not request for an analysis of his B sample.
On January 10 2009, Maheswary was awarded three-month ban beginning October 13, 2008.
However, the ministry noted that Maheswary had never protested against the findings of the enquiry committee or the punishment awarded by the competent authority. His acceptance of the punishment had made the punishment final.