Sports ministry decides not to confer Renjith Maheshwary with Arjuna Award

The sports ministry on Thursday decided not to confer Renjith Maheshwary with the prestigious Arjuna Award as the triple jumper has been found to have used a 'scheduled' substance (ephedrine) back in 2008, putting an end to all speculations regarding his fate.

After detailed investigations, the ministry has come to a conclusion that Maheshwary was found to have used ephedrine during the 46th National Athletic Championships in Kochi.

The sample was collected on September 8, 2008 and given to the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) on September 15, 2008.

NDTL on October 3, 2008 analysed the A-sample of Maheshwary and reported levels of ephedrine far above the expected levels, even when ephedrine is consumed for therapeutic purposes.

Maheshwary had not reported using ephedrine for medicinal purposes during the collection of the sample and was suspended by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) pending enquiry.

The case was heard by the enquiry committee of the AFI and Maheshwary 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 10th January 2009, Maheshwary was awarded a punishment of a ban for three months starting from 13.10.2008. This was communicated to him by the Director of the AFI.

There was some doubt regarding the acceptability of the sample from Maheshwary. It was also possible that the report of the National Dope Testing Laboratory might not have been an acceptable 'Adverse Analytical Finding', and that the chain of custody of the sample might not have been sufficiently foolproof.

However, the ministry noted that Maheshwary had never protested against the findings of the enquiry committee or the punishment awarded by the competent authority. His acceptance of the punishment, despite the flaws in collection and analysis of the sample, had made the punishment final.

Although the ministry took into consideration that Maheshwary has never been found guilty of using a performance enhancing substance since 2008 and that was the only instance, to the knowledge of the government, in which the athlete was involved in a doping related incident.

Nevertheless, the rules for the Arjuna Awards are explicit: 'Any person who has been found to have used a prohibited or scheduled substance cannot be given the Arjuna award.'

The ministry, meanwhile, has also noted the failure of the AFI to provide full details of the case.

In a release, the Ministry 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 Maheshwary for the Arjuna Award in the first place."

The ministry has also decided to create a new set of "Standard Operating Practices" so that such incidents are not repeated in future.

On August 31 this year, hours before he was to be presented the Arjuna Award, Maheshwary was told under dramatic circumstances that he will have to wait for the coveted honour till an inquiry on whether he had failed a dope test five years back.