Kathmandu, Nepal, August 13, 2020: The Nepal Olympic Committee has announced that three Pakistani athletes who won medals at the 13th South Asian Games last December had tested positive for drugs.
In a statement released on Wednesday, August 12, the Nepal Olympic Committee said Muhammad Naeem, gold medallist in the men’s 110m hurdles, Mehboob Ali, gold medallist in the men’s 400m, and Sami Ullah, bronze medallist in the men’s 100m, had failed doping tests.
The Nepal authorities said the urine samples of all three athletes had been tested in Doha, Qatar.
“As per the World Anti-Doping Agency, all three athletes have been informed about the results and asked to contact the lab for B samples urine tests if they want. Out of the three, Naeem and Ali had requested to test their B samples which had also turned out to be positive,” the release stated.
The NOC statement further stated that all three athletes have been banned from sporting activities for four years starting from December 2019 to December 2023.
“All these decisions have been made on the basis of provisions stated on WADA and South Asian Olympic Council’s anti-doping rules,” the release clarified.
The medals won have been forfeited. Pakistan had won a total of 132 medals - 32 gold, 41 silver and 59 bronze - at the South Asian Games in Kathmandu and Pokhara.
The Anti-Doping Committee of the 13th South Asian Games conducted around 150 tests in three categories including medal winners, record holders and random checks. Eight foreign doctors had been part of the team.
Pakistan will host the next edition of the Games.
