Football: Indian goalkeeper tested positive

India goalkeeper Subrata Paul tests positive, faces four-year ban

The random test was conducted on the entire team by the NADA on March 18, as the players assembled in Mumbai for a camp ahead of the away tie to Myanmar.

Written by Shahid Judge | Mumbai |Updated: April 26, 2017 10:23 am

Subrata Paul’s sample for testing was collected during an out of competition test in Mumbai in March.

On Tuesday, just under two months before India’s national football team plays their second AFC Cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan in Bangalore, the team faced a major setback when goalkeeper Subrata Paul failed an out-of-competition dope test. In recent weeks, the Indian football team has been on a high. Just last month, the ‘Blue Tigers’ broke a 64-year-old jinx by beating Myanmar in an away tie, to begin their campaign at the 2019 AFC Cup on a positive note. Soon enough, the team’s ranking came down to an impressive 101 – three years after falling to 171 in the FIFA charts.

The random test was conducted on the entire team by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) on March 18, as the players assembled in Mumbai for a camp ahead of the away tie to Myanmar. The 30-year-old custodian’s urine samples tested positive for banned substance Terbutaline, a bronchodilator that is commonly used by asthma patients. “The smaller tubes in the lungs allow more oxygen inflow with the help of this chemical. As a result, oxygen absorbtion increases (to boost stamina). That’s why it’s considered a performance enhancer,” explains Dr Ashok Ahuja, former head of the Department of Sport Medicine and Science at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala.

Under World Anti Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of banned substances, terbutaline falls under the category of a ‘beta-2 agonists,’ or a substance that is prohibited both in and out of competition. Since bronchodilators are essentials for asthma patients, athletes are allowed to apply for a TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemption). “It’s very well known for athletes suffering from Exercise Induced Asthma (EIA), and in such cases, there is a provision in the WADA code for athletes to apply for a TUE,” Ahuja adds.

Meanwhile, a source close to the development claims that Paul was inadvertently administered the banned substance after complaining of breathing problems. “He had an upper respiratory infection, basically a cough. And the team doctor gave him a mixture which had terbutaline in it,” says the source. Interestingly enough, while bronchodilators are strictly forbidden by WADA, over ‘60 percent’ over-the-counter cough syrups contain banned substances. “Even inhalers or puffs contain it, but they are permitted provided the athlete has a TUE. That is unless you consume the substance in any oral form, either tablet or syrup, and in heavy concentration,” Ahuja says.

Paul now faces the possibility of facing a four-year ban unless he manages to prove his innocence in the ‘B’ sample test. Since making his India debut in 2007, Paul has been a mainstay in the national team, playing an important role in the team’s victorious 2008 AFC Challenge Cup campaign, which granted India qualification for the AFC Asian Cup in 2011.

In his early years, Paul had came under heavy criticism after colliding with Cristiano Junior at a Federation Cup match in 2004, which led to the demise of the Brazilian forward. The then budding goalkeeper subsequently received a two-month suspension, but worked hard on his comeback and propelled himself to a spot in the national team.

Dubbed the ‘Indian Spiderman,’ the slender six-footer was the undisputed first choice goalkeeper for the Indian team for almost a decade, before losing the spot to Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in 2015. Still, the Sodepur-native in West Bengal, along with captain Sunil Chhetri remain the most experienced players in the team that is currently going through a transitional phase.

The latest controversy however is threatening to potentially bring a close to a career that has seen him win all that domestic football has had to offer, including a short stint at Danish club FC Vestsjaelland, and the Arjuna Award just last year. The question still remains on his motives to use the banned substance, given that its effects do not provide any significant assistance to goalkeepers. “As a winger or forward, you have to run certain number of miles, normally 10. So it helps them. But as a goalkeeper, you’re confined to the box and there isn’t much movement,” Ahuja says.