CWG: India to appeal against CGF's decision to send back 2 athletes over 'no needle policy'

Race walker Irfan Kolothum Thodi andtriple jumper Rakesh Babu were removed from the Commonwealth Games Village at Gold Coast on Friday after the CGF found guilty of breaching the "no needle policy".

"We don't agree with some decisions, and we will discuss with our higher authorities. We will appeal against these decisions," General Team Manager, Namdev Shirgaonker said.

Their testimonies, swearing innocence were declared "evasive and unreliable" by the CGF court.

"There is a lot of confusion, why our athletes were banned, how they confirmed this. Why was Irfan banned when the syringe was found in Babu's bag," Indian athletics team manager Ravinder Choudhry said.

"How is the CGF so confident that both athletes were using the same syringe. Babu admitted but what Irfan," he added.

The two athletes will also face sanctions from their national body following an enquiry.

Athletics Federation of India (AFI) Secretary C K Valson said: "They will definitely be punished by the AFI as well. It is an embarrassment for us. There will be an inquiry after the Games is over and it will be time-bound. The panel will be appointed after the Games."

"As we have said previously, the Commonwealth Games takes a no-tolerance approach to these matters," CGF president Louise Martin had said, adding,"When the Commonwealth Games Federation says no tolerance, the Commonwealth Games Federation means no tolerance."