By V. Krishnaswamy, IANS,
Beijing : The Indian contingent in Beijing is in no mood to have a replacement for the withdrawn weightlifter Monica Devi, despite pressure from some quarters to rope in Shailaja Pujari as a replacement to make use of the sole quota place the country had in the discipline.
While the contingent was fire-fighting in Beijing, some officials were against getting a replacement.
“There is no need to get another lifter. It is already embarrassing enough before the Games and since there is no chance of a medal, what is the point in raking up the issue again,” said an official on condition of anonymity.
The argument is that while the controversy will die a slow death over the next few days, the issue will crop up if Shailaja takes Monica’s place.
Back in India, some Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) officials contended that naming Shailaja would only be ‘fair’ as she was the contender for the berth in the first place.
Monica tested positive following an internal test carried out by the Sports Authority of India in the last week of June.
However, the replacement would have been very difficult as a positive dope test qualifies as neither an accident nor an injury, under which a replacement would have been possible. The last date of submitting names was July 29.