The National Anti Doping Agency’s (NADA) disciplinary panel has banned India’s best basketball player, Satnam Singh Bhamara, for consuming prohibited specified substance, Higenamine, a beta-2 agonist. Bhamara had made the country proud in 2015 by becoming the first Indian player to be drafted into an NBA team.
Bhamara was found guilty of not exercising due caution “in verifying the composition of the supplement he was consuming”. The panel declared that Bhamara, as a senior athlete, failed to perform his duties while being totally aware of NADA’s rules and regulations. However, the panel mentioned that the player did not take the banned drug ‘intentionally’ to gain an unfair advantage over other athletes in the competition but should have checked its ingredients thoroughly before consuming the same.
Bhamara won’t be able to don the Indian colors from November 19, 2019, to November 18, 2021, which is his entire ban period. His chances to appear in international leagues or appear in try-outs will also be hampered by the verdict.
In November last year, Bhamara had failed an out-of-competition test conducted by NADA in Bengaluru during the preparatory camp for the South Asian Games (SAG). Citing personal reasons, Bhamara had withdrawn from the SAG in December. However, it later came to light that he did not pass the dope test.
The disciplinary panel ruled in its verdict “That the hearing panel holding that the athlete has not intentionally taken the prohibited substance shall not absolve the from his responsibilities under the anti-doping rules 2015. The athlete should have examined and checked the ingredients of the supplement before consuming the same. This caution was required from him being a senior athlete but he has completely failed in exercising caution and prudence and was negligent in performing his duties as an athlete.”
“The examination offered by the athlete shows his negligence which is no ground to exonerate him for his act of consuming the specified prohibited substance. The hearing panel holds that since the athlete in the present case was negligent in consuming the specified prohibited substance without verifying its composition and elements and without exposing the same in the doping control form, he is liable for sanctions under article 10.5.1 for ineligibility for a period of two years. The period of his ineligibility for the period of two years shall commence from the date of acceptance of provisional suspension i.e. 19.11.2019” it added.