Had doctor known I was a player, he wouldn’t have given banned substance, says Rana Gharami
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Rana Gharami, who played for Delhi Dynamos last season, has stated that he didn’t mention to his doctor about his profession and was prescribed a banned substance through medicine. Gharami also became the first player from ISL to get suspended provisionally for the use of a banned substance.
The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) had taken the Dynamos defender’s sample for an in-competition test back in, which was later revealed in April to have Prednisone and 20-B-OH-Prednisolone metabolites.
The substance is generally used to cut breathing problems and immune system disorders, among others of course. And Rana has stated to NADA that he should be shown leniency for he never abused it intentionally.
"During my stay in Kolkata, I fell ill with viral fever and visited a doctor, who prescribed me some medicines. Even after the first round of medicines, I was still having high fever and went back to the doctor who gave me another set of medicines (on January 3) as I was having problem breathing due to bad pollution in Kolkata during the winter month of December,” Gharami wrote in his appeal, reported TOI.
"Unfortunately, I did not tell the doctor that I was a player who could not take all medicines as I was quite sick and I thought the doctor would have known that I am a player and hence would not give me any banned substance. It was also the break from football, and I did not think that taking any medication would involve any banned substance as I was not even playing during this time," it further read.
The Indian Super League had taken a break from December 17 to January 24, 2019, prior to the Asian Cup 2019 when the incident happened. And Gharami has attached flight tickets and a boarding pass to show that he had travelled to Kolkata on December 17 with attached prescriptions as well.
