During the junior nationals held at Noida in September this year, three lifters from Uttar Pradesh tested positive. As per WFI rules, if more than two lifters test positive in a calendar year, the state unit is banned for a year along with a fine. As such, the WFI promptly announced a one-year ban on UP State Weightlifting Association (UPSWA), besides imposing a fine of Rs 75,000.

However, the UPSWA has till date not received any written intimation about the ban. UPSWA secretary Sahadev Yadav confirmed the state has paid off the fine, but said he hasn't received any communication regarding the ban.

Interestingly, when seven lifters of the Police Sports Control Board (PSCB) tested positive during the All India Police Games at Madhuban in Haryana last week, the WFI lost little time in not just writing to the PSCB about the ban, but also warned that if the PSCB didn't get the B samples of the lifters tested within a fortnight, the NDTL (National Dope Test Laboratory) would proceed with the tests in the presence of an independent observer.

According to sources, the UP unit expects to take up the issue during the WFI's executive committee meeting during or after the senior nationals in a couple of months' time. Till then, weightlifters from UP will be eligible, unlike the PSCB lifters, to participate in all national-level tournaments, something PSCB officials are contesting. "Is it because the WFI president (Harbhajan Singh) also happens to be the state unit chief," asked an official.

But WFI secretary BR Gulati insists that UP have been informed. "As far as my secretariat (in Pune) is concerned, the UP state unit has been banned for one year and I have informed them about it. They (UP) can appeal at the EC meeting and it is for the executive to consider whether or not to relax the ban," he said.