New Delhi: Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia said he will appeal against the four-year ban imposed by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) for an anti-doping rule violation at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Bajrang was banned by the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (ADDP) of NADA on Tuesday for refusal to give a sample during the selection trials in March. The accomplished wrestler said on Wednesday that he never “refused” to give the sample and that he was being targeted for running a movement in support of protesting women wrestlers and raising his voice against NADA for coming with expired kits to collect his sample on a previous occasion.

“I will appeal in CAS and I will fight till the end. I have all the proof,” Punia said in a video message on social media.

Bajrang can also appeal before the Anti-Doping Appeal Panel. His lawyer Vidushpat Singhania said they are weighing all options. “Bajrang has expressed his desire that he wants to appeal against the decision. We will see whether we go to CAS or ADAP,” he said.

The wrestler was one of the faces of the protests against former Wrestling Federation of India president and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

“They are targeting me. It has been happening since the protests. They have collected my sample six times, and even though I was not competing I never refused. Is it my fault that I was standing with our women wrestlers? When they came to collect my sample on December 13 with expired kits, I raised my voice because I had lost faith in the system,” he said.

Bajrang made a video of the expired kits and posted on social media on December 15. “I also wrote three-four mails to NADA from December to March asking what action it had taken regarding this concern. Till date I have not been given any answer,” Bajrang said.

However, the events that led to his ban happened on March 10, the day of the selection trials in Sonepat for the Olympic qualifiers.

“They are saying Bajrang left the venue without giving dope sample but I have proof (I did not leave). They came to collect my sample in between my bouts. They did not show any ID proof. I had another bout and according to rule they cannot come and ask for sample in between competition. I told them you come and talk to me after my bout. I met the SAI doctor at the venue for a medical certificate (injury), handed over it to the coaches and then left the venue. In between, nobody from NADA (DCO) came to me for dope test,” he said.

However, the doping control officer in his supplementary report form dated March 10 has stated that Bajrang, on being notified of the test “began arguing with the NADA officials/chaperones and told them that he will not provide any dope sample unless he gets reply of his email regarding the use of expired kits.”

The DCO has further stated that the “athlete was surrounded by his supporters and was continuously repeating his statement and had immediately left the venue by refusing to give the dope sample.”

On the issue of test kits past the expiry date, NADA, in its submission before the panel, said it had immediately taken action against the DCO concerned when it came to their knowledge.

“The Athlete is trying to mix up two different dope tests and take benefit in the Anti-Doping Rule Violation committed by him, by intentionally refusing to the DCO of NADA to submit for sample collection on 10.03.2024,” NADA said at the hearing.

The three-member ADDP under the chairmanship of Vineet Dhanda ruled that Bajrang failed to give any “compelling justification for refusing to submit to sample collection.”

“…it is an “undisputed position that Bajrang refused to submit his urine sample on March 10 at the National Center of Excellence (NCOE), Sports Authority of India (SAI), Sonepat.” The panel found him in violation of Article 2.3 of the Anti-Doping Rules 2021 that pertains to “Evading, Refusing or Failing to Submit to Sample Collection.”