New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) Mumbai FC’s Nishant Mehra Wednesday became the first footballer in the history of the I-League to fail a dope test.
I-League’s CEO Sunando Dhar said the player’s A sample had tested positive.
‘His B sample will be opened before him Thursday. If the B samples also test positive, he will be banned for two years for his first offence,’ Dhar told IANS.
The midfielder tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol, an in-competition prohibited substance in the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) list.
Tetrahydrocannabinol is not a performance enhancing drung and is basically a synthetic drug consumed by party goers. Tetrahydrocannabinol is the active chemical in cannabis and is one of the oldest hallucinogenic drugs.
As per the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) guidelines, the dope tests are being conducted by National Anti-Doping Agency (Nada), at the behest of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for the first time in the national league.
Random dope tests in the I-League started Jan 22 in Pune and it has been conducted on nine of the 14 participating teams. The remaining five teams will undergo tests in the coming few weeks.
The first footballer to test positive so far was East Bengal’s central defender Arun Malhotra, who, was stopped from boarding the flight to Busan Asian Games at the last minute.
