NEW DELHI: In probably the first case of doping in Indian rugby, a national-level female player, Antima Kumari from Bihar, who was shortlisted for the now-postponed Asian Games in Hangzhou, has been banned for two years by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) after traces of prohibited specified substance 'Tamoxifen' was found in her urine sample during an out-of-competition testing in Bhubaneswar. Tamoxifen is listed as hormone and metabolic modulators under S4 of World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) 2021 list of prohibited substances.
Antima, who plays as a winger (the last person in the back line), was found guilty of violating 'Article 2.1' of NADA's anti-doping rules, which pertains to the "presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers in an athlete's sample". She was tested on October 18, 2021 during the national rugby team's camp at the KIITs University in Bhubaneswar and her 'A' sample was sent for testing to the WADA-accredited laboratory in Belgium, which returned adverse analytical finding (AAF) for 'metabolite methoxy-hydroxy-tamoxifen'.
