The secretary of the Indian Weightlifting Federation, B R Gulati, has refuted Andhra Pradesh weightlifter Shailaja Pujari’s claims that he tampered with the results of the dope tests where she tested positive for an anabolic steroid.

Earlier in the day, Pujari, speaking to a television channel, had said that she was innocent and questioned the test results.

“I have a strong doubt on Gulati. I believe he has tampered with my dope test results. I have been tested 12 times in the past and did not test positive even once. I have already been banned. Why would I do something like this now? I have to think about my life and my career also,” she said.

When contacted, Gulati said the lifter’s allegations were unfounded. “Her allegations are incorrect. They are not even worth reacting to,” Gulati said while speaking to The Indian Express. “She was tested last month by WADA in Pune and some days prior to that by NADA in Bangalore. We received results of both the tests a couple of days ago. How could I have tampered with the WADA results that came out in Cologne in Germany?” he asked.

‘No communication’

Pujari also said that she had not received any communication regarding the results, but Gulati responded by saying, “We don’t give reports to individual athletes; we send it to the respective state associations. In this case we have sent the report to the Andhra Pradesh association. We are aware that she has received it,” he said.

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