The United World Wrestling (UWW) suspended India's ace wrestler Bajrang Punia till the end of this year following the NADA's recent decision to hand him a provisional suspension on Thursday. Bajrang refused to undergo a dope test after his bouts in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers last month and then revealed an expired kit allegation to the National Anti-Doping Agency.
Bajrang, the Tokyo Olympics medalist, failed to qualify for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics Games after a disastrous performance in the qualifiers. After his bout, he left the event without undergoing a doping test and was later provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency.
However, Bajarang has reportedly denied receiving any notice from the UWW about his suspension but the player's profile on UWW reads, "suspended for the following reason until Dec 31, 2024, provisionally suspended by NADO IND for alleged ADRV (Anti-Doping Rule Violation)."
Meanwhile, in a surprising turn of events, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) approved the wrestler's training abroad and Bajrang refused. According to a report from the PTI, after the Mission Olympics Cell (MOC) meeting on April 25, the SAI approved INR 8.82 lakh for Bajrang's training in Russia's Dagestan despite NADA's suspension order.
Bajrang had initially proposed a 35-day training camp on April 24 but he changed his travel plans to May 28 after the MOC meeting. The proposal also included his strength and conditioning coach Kaazi Kiron Mustafa Hasan and his sparring partner Jitender. After NADA's suspension, Bajrang later told PTI that he cancelled his plan and would not train abroad.
Wrestlers Anshu Malik and Sarita Mor were also sanctioned abroad training plans in the same MOC meeting. Sarita is set to receive INR 5.9 lakh for her training in the USA while Anshu bagged INR 14.6 lakh for training in Japan along with her father and coach Dharamveer Malik.
