Who is Narsingh Yadav? Rio Games Village only knows Praveen Rana

Rio de Janeiro: Despite Narsingh Pancham Yadav celebrating his clearance by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) back home, there was no final word till Tuesday on his participation in the Olympic Games here.

After having a look at India’s main draw in the wrestling competition on Tuesday, the international wrestling body, United World Wrestling (UWW), still has Praveen Rana’s entry in the 74kg- category.

When can UWW change this name is a mystery for all Indian officials here.

“Clearing his name under pressure is one thing and getting his participation is altogether different,” was how an official told dna, hinting at the pressure put on NADA to clear Narsingh’s case.

There is still lot of time for the wrestling event, but a lot of issues now depend on technicality. First things first, irrespective of what the NADA panel has ruled, the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) has a different take.

dna has learnt in Rio that Narsingh was taking food supplements from three different sources — WFI, his sponsor JSW and the Maharashtra government.

Yet, when he tested positive for an anabolic steroid, it was said that a youngster spiked his food. Why the two other supplements were not blamed is another mystery.

Another important thing was that WADA had asked the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) in New Delhi to conduct a fresh test of Narsingh on July 5. This again turned positive by an accredited laboratory of WADA. So, how can WADA actually go against its own tough stand against doping?

Take, for example, Russia. WADA didn’t allow 117 dope-tainted athletes to travel to Rio. All these athletes were blacklisted and the entire track-and-field contingent was blocked. There was pressure from Russian president Vladimir Putin but WADA did not budge.

Strangely in India, from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, everyone is congratulating Narsingh without even waiting for WADA’s final nod.

India’s Chef de Mission Rakesh Gupta said that the matter is not in his hands and the UWW will take a call. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, two Indian women weightlifters were thrown out of Games Village after they flunked the dope test.