Neelam doping saga nearing conclusion

The long-drawn saga of Neelam Jaswant Singh dope scandal maybe finally nearing its conclusion, if one of the panelists conducting the hearing is to be believed.

"The final recommendation will be presented to the Athletics Federation of India, latest within a month," former national sprint champion Adille Sumariwala told PTI.

"We recently conducted a hearing and now a meeting of the panel is needed to arrive at the final decision," he said.

Sumariwala said the panel, headed by Tamil Nadu Athletics Association chief Walter Davaram, was giving Neelam every opportunity to prove her innocence.

"We do not have to prove her guilty. She is the one who has to convince us that the charges against her are not true. The onus is on her. We have given her every chance to prove her case," he said.

When asked whether the discus thrower had managed to convince the panel about her claims, he said, that depended on the documents provided by her.

"We have only heard her arguments and not had any discussions among ourselves," the former athlete said.

Neelam, through her counsel Sushil Kumar Salwan, had provided certain documents which she claimed would throw a favourable light on the case.

"As most of these documents pertaining to the laboratory reports of World Athletics Championship in Helsinki were in Finnish language, the translated transcripts took some time in arriving," Sumariwala said.

"She has said that there are no more documents to be provided and so the decision should not take long," he said.

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Admitting that the case had lingered on for long, Sumariwala said the panel, which has former athlete Gurbachan Singh Randhawa and Delhi Medical Association Secretary Girish Tyagi as its other members, was progressing with discretion.

"As far as we are concerned, Neelam is already suspended for two years and we have to give our findings within that time. There is no deadline imposed by AFI or the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)," he said.

"We want to arrive at the right decision even if it takes some more time," Sumariwala added.

Neelam tested positive for pemoline at last year's World Championship and was provisionally suspended by IAAF pending the results of the hearing.