India's weightlifters will miss the Asian Games later this year after their federation was given a one-year ban and fined $50,000 for doping violations, an official said on Saturday.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) had suspended India's federation for an unspecified period in March after four lifters tested positive within the space of a year.
The ban, which is the second in two years, would run until March next year, federation secretary Balbir Bhatia said. "We received a letter from the international federation recently," he said. "We're taking up the issue of the fine with them because the federation was not at fault." The federation would be suspended for an additional year if it failed to pay the fine, he added.
The suspension means the country's lifting team will miss the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar in December. The Indian federation was banned for one year in August 2004 after two female lifters, Pratima Kumari and Sanamacha Chanu, tested positive at the Athens Olympics.
Two male lifters, Edwin Raju and Tajinder Singh, tested positive at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games this year after female lifter Shailaja Pujari had been dropped from the squad following tests conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Another female lifter, Boradi Prameelavalli, was identified by the federation as the fourth to test positive, all for the banned anabolic steroid Stanozolol.