Pakistani wrestler banned, stripped of CWG medal for using performance enhancing drugs

Karachi: Pakistani wrestler Ali Asad has been stripped of his bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games after testing positive for using performance enhancing drugs.

The Pakistan Wrestling Federation confirmed that Ali Asad had not only been banned for four years but also stripped of his bronze which he won in the 2022 Birmingham CWG.

"His tests carried out by the International Testing Agency (ITA) have confirmed he took performance enhancing drugs during the event," one official said.

The ruling on his case came this week, following investigation by the ITA.

The official said that the ban on Asad came after he waived his right to a hearing and also didn't respond to the allegations within the given deadline.

Pakistani weightlifters and wrestlers have faced a spate of bans from the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) for failing dope tests in international competitions.

In May this year, the IWF handed four-year bans to four Pakistani weightlifters for anti-doping rules violation.

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

The four weightlifters went to Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to defend themselves but the suspension remained.

Top weightlifters Olympian Talha Talib and Abu Bakar Ghani were also hit at the same time and were banned for two years for using banned substances.

Talha, who finished fifth in the Tokyo Olympics, is banned until February 2025.