Doping row: Sini Jose, 5 others banned for one year

Friday, December 23, 2011: The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) on Friday banned Asian Games double gold medalist Ashwini Akkunji and five other athletes for doping.
Ashwini apart the other five athletes banned for one year are Mandeep Kaur, Sini Jose, Priyanka Panwar, Tiana Mary Thomas and Jauna Murmu.
Sini Jose, Manjeet Kaur and Mandeep Kaur were Ashwini’s Commonwealth Games 400m relay team-mates that won the gold medal.
The NADA gave a verdict after finding out that there was no negligence on the part of athletes and they were aware about the banned substances.
Earlier this month justice Mukul Mudgal had submitted his findings regarding the doping offences of eight athletes.
The counsel for six athletes - Ashwini Akkunji, Mandeep Kaur, Sini Jose, Priyanka Panwar, Tiana Mary Thomas and Jauna Murmu - RK Anand, in fact, had cited the findings of the one-member Mudgal committee before the NADA panel, and asked the athletes to be exonerated as ginseng recovered from them was passed on by sacked Ukrainian coach Yuri Ogo.
Interestingly, the ban for these athletes would end in June 2012, just before the start of the London Olympic Games that are scheduled for July 27 next year.