Aryaan Bhatia,16 became the first Indian tennis player to fail dope test and has been put under provisional suspension as directed by the National Anti Doing Agency on Friday.
Bhatia’s urine sample was taken during the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship held in october 2018. NADA had collected the samples for the first time from tennis players during the championship.
“It’s a case of ignorance, a mistake has been made. The player had a cold and he took a medicine as prescribed by a doctor. He was not aware that the medicine carried banned substance. He has already appealed and it will be heard soon,” said Chatterjee, AITA Secretary told .
“We will also put it strongly before NADA that he be excused since he is a junior player and the mistake happened due to lack of awareness,” he added.
The national anti-doping watchdog also provisionally suspended seven other sportspersons for flunking dope tests earlier in January.
