"They don't want me to continue wrestling at any cost" - Bajrang Punia lashes out at NADA
On June 24, 2024, Bajrang Punia was suspended for the second time by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) after the wrestler was relieved of his first suspension by the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (ADDP). Punia has now alleged that NADA is targetting him for pointing out the flaws in their system and that they don't want the wrestler's career to be ended.
He has vowed to challenge the arrogance of NADA and said that his lawyer will file his reply on time.
The 30-year-old wrote on his X account in Hindi, which translates to:
"This is related to the second suspension in 2 consecutive months after NADA revoked the first suspension in the same case. NADA clearly ignored all the facts given to them and suspended me again. This shows how NADA is targeting me, they don't want me to continue wrestling at any cost."
He further mentioned that the NADA doesn't want to take any responsibility for their mistakes and wants to harass the wrestler.
"They have no answers and they don't want to take responsibility for their mistakes, they just want to harass the athlete to get rid of them.. NADA doesn't want anyone to question their wrong ways and if someone does, he is targeted so that he cannot continue his sport," he added.
More on the Bajrang Punia controversy
Bajrang Punia was suspended for refusing to provide his sample during the selections held in Sonepat. This happened way back in March. As a result, his chances of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics ended.
However, Punia retaliated by claiming he never refused to provide a sample but questioned why NADA had sent an expired kit for sample collection last December.
He questioned the same in his latest post as well.
"Why doesn't NADA answer about the expired kit? Why doesn't NADA answer how an unregistered chaperone who was not named in the mission order approached and pressured me for sample collection? Why doesn't NADA answer why I was pressured to collect samples between two matches when they knew I had only 20 minutes to prepare for the next bout," he wrote.
Bajrang Punia is notably a former World Championships medalist and has until July 11 to request a hearing or accept the charge.