Jani summoned before disciplinary committee

Lankan sprinter Jani Chathurangi who has been found guilty of using the performance enhancing drug Norandrosterone has been summoned to appear before the SAG disciplinary committee tomorrow.

However, it is very unlikely that Chathurangi who was seeking medical treatment in the aftermath of the SAG medical committee ruling would be present at the hearing tomorrow. The SAG committee has a period of three months to arrive at a decision after tomorrow’s hearing.

Last week, the SAG medical unit ruled that Chathurangi committed a doping rule violation following an adverse analytical finding reported by the accredited laboratory in Malaysia. Her 19 Norandrosterone (19NA) was 27.5ng/ml on the August 25, 2006 urine sample and 14.05ng/ml on the August 26th sample. The threshold limit is 2ng/ml.

Meanwhile, Prema Pinnawela, coordinator of the Disciplinary Committee of the Amateur Athletics Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) told The Sunday Times the SAG disciplinary is not empowered to impose any sanctions on Chathurangi other than the recommendation of stripping her of the medals that she won at the 10th South Asian Games in Colombo in August. According to Pinnawela, the IAAF has only authorized the AASL to take any disciplinary action on the matter.

Meanwhile, a huge rift has erupted between the SAG medical unit and the AASL. The AASL is blaming the SAG MU for not conducting the inquiry in a proper manner and not taking them into the fold as they are the accredited agency recognized by the IAAF. In response, the SAG MU head Dr. Geethanjana Mendis says they only deal with the National Olympic Committee and are not bound to provide answers to any other sports body. Dr. Mendis adds that in spite of what the AASL says, World Anti-Drug Agency (WADA) representative Dennis Rahim from Brunei and an Iranian doctor representing the IAAF were present during the testing.

Professor Ravindra Fernando who led the SAG MU team of doctors said that if Chathurangi had assisted them during the examinations they could have found the perpetrators but, her actions had prevented them from doing so.

Airing his view on the matter, National Olympic Committee Chief Hemasiri Fernando said Sri Lankan sports authorities must take a cue from the sentencing of Pakistan’s ace bowlers Shoaib Aktar and Mohammed Asif who were found guilty of a similar offence although they had a lesser reading than Jani’s and act fast to arrive at a decision.

Chathurangi won the ‘silver’ in the 100metre sprint and won a ‘gold’ in the 4 x 100 sprint event at the SAG.