I have been victimised: banned sprinter Sadaf

LAHORE: Banned national sprinters Sadaf Sidiqui and Javeria Hassan have expressed dissatisfaction after their two-year bans were upheld by a three-member appellate committee. While Sadaf wants to take matters to court as she feels that she is being victimised, Javeria remains shocked and has claimed it to be a harsh punishment.

“I have been victimised for an unknown reason,” Sadaf told The Express Tribune. “This is an attempt to demolish my career and I will never let anyone ruin my career this way.”

“We have examples of pardoning cricketers like Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar in similar cases. But the committee did not even give us a proper chance to prove our innocence. They had already set their mind up during the hearing to uphold my ban.

“Now I will approach the court in the next 15 days. I have a doctor’s prescription - which could easily prove that the drug I used was to cure the inflammation of the tonsils,” maintained Sadaf.

“I have been taking medicines from a credible complex during the past few years but sometimes it’s not possible to approach their doctor so we opted for the family doctor - and we were never advised not to consult a private doctor,” said Sadaf.

Sadaf tested positive for anabolic steroid metribolone, which is not considered as a performance-enhancing drug, but is banned by most sport authorities. “I can confirm that the substances were not taken deliberately. I will now ask the doctor to testify in court.”

On the contrary, Javeria was tested for nandrolone and stenbolone at levels 12 times higher than normal.

“This was a harsh punishment and I am still not out of shock. Since I am a national athlete they should have given me a chance to prove my innocence as no one deliberately uses the drug,” said Javeria.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2010.