Prominent Names Sidelined And Dropped From India's Asian Games Squads Amid Anti-Doping Crackdown
A wave of recent anti-doping violations and strict regulatory penalties has severely disrupted India's preparations for Asian Games 2026, resulting in provisional suspensions, whereabouts failures, and squad exclusions for several prominent athletes. Among the most notable case is wrestler Mukul Dahiya who failed dope tests, forcing last-minute roster adjustments and shrinking national quotas. He is joined on the growing casualty list by a series of high-profile names facing intense disciplinary scrutiny. Veteran heptathlete Swapna Barman, U23 standout Chirag Chhikara, and boxer Lakshay have all seen their competitive campaigns derailed by testing failures. Furthermore, judoka Arun Kumar was withdrawn after testing positive for an anabolic steroid, while fellow judoka Tulika Maan was provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) due to accumulated whereabouts failures, highlighting a widening compliance crisis across Indian sports federations.
Mukul Dahiya provisionally suspended after testing positive for the stimulant mephentermine ahead of the Asian Games. | Photo: moglidahiya1327/Instagram
Chirag Chikkara served a disciplinary notice and faced potential penalties due to accumulating three whereabouts failures | Photo: IndianOilcl/X
Lakshya provisionally suspended after testing positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol | Photo: officialmrindia/Instagram
Arun Kumar withdrawn and provisionally suspended after testing positive for an anabolic steroid | Photo: www.ijf.org
Tulika Mann provisionally suspended after accumulating three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period | Photo: tulika_maan/X
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