London Olympics bronze medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt on Tuesday threw his weight behind Narsingh Yadav, who had flunked a dope test, jeopardising India's chance of a medal in the 74kg weight category at the upcoming the Rio Games.
Barely 10 days ahead of the quadrennial extravaganza in Brazil, Narsingh's dope test came positive on Sunday, which he claimed was a conspiracy against him.
Yogeshwar, who had supported the 26-year-old Narsingh, when two time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar had demanded a trial to decide India's representative for the 74kg freestyle category, once again came out in support of the Mumbai-based grappler. He also demanded an enquiry into the whole controversy.
"Khusti ke liye bht dukhi hun. Iski janch honi bht zaruri hai. Mujhe vishwas hai Narsingh aesa nai kar sakta (I am very sad about the state of wrestling. This matter should be investigated. I am sure that Narsingh cannot do something like this)," Yogeshwar wrote on his Twitter handle.
On Monday, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh extended his support to Narsingh, calling him "innocent" and claiming it to be a case of sabotage.
Sports Minister Vijay Goel, however, indicated that Narsingh's Olympic chances were almost over when he said on Monday that an Indian contingent of 119 athletes is all set to represent India at the Games.
Narsingh, who has been provisionally suspended as of now, will get a chance to prove his innocence when he faces the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) disciplinary panel on Wednesday.
--IANS
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