Wrestler Ali Asad receives four-year ban for doping

Pakistani wrestler Ali Asad, a bronze medalist at the Commonwealth Games, has been handed a four-year ban for using prohibited performance-enhancing substances.

The International Testing Agency (ITA) imposed the ban after Ali Asad tested positive for banned substances during the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

The ban prohibits him from participating in any activities related to the sport.

Pakistan secured eight medals, including one gold, at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Ali Asad won the bronze medal in the 57kg wrestling category by defeating his Indian opponent in just 55 seconds.

Ali Asad's urine sample was taken on August 6, 2022, and following a positive test result on September 25, 2022, he was provisionally suspended. The ITA offered him the opportunity to appeal and request a B sample test. However, due to his lack of response, a direct four-year ban was imposed.

Ali Asad denied using performance-enhancing drugs after his positive doping test.

Earlier on May 29, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) handed four-year bans to four Pakistani weightlifters for violating anti-doping rules.

Abdur Rehman, Sharjeel Butt, Ghulam Mustafa, and Farhan Amjad were suspended in 2022 after refusing to provide samples to the International Testing Agency (ITA) team on November 10, 2021.

According to sources, these four weightlifters took their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to defend themselves, but they were unable to avoid the lengthy ban.

The International Weightlifting Federation confirmed that all four were banned for four years, effective from March 10, 2022, to March 9, 2026.

Their offense was the same, as they were charged under article 2.3 (evading/refusing). Top weightlifters, Olympian Talha Talib and Abu Bakar Ghani, were also sanctioned at the same time and banned for using prohibited substances.

Abu Bakar, who was 17 at the time, admitted to using the banned substance and received a two-year ban, which has now expired.

According to sources, Talha, who finished fifth in the Tokyo Olympics, initially contested his case but later admitted to the offense.

He was handed a three-year ban, set to expire on January 24, 2025, for using 19-norandrosterone.

Meanwhile, the cases of coach Mohammad Waqas Akbar and Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWF) senior official Amjad Amin Butt are ongoing. Both have been charged under article 2.5 (tampering) and article 2.9 (complicity).