New Delhi: The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) on Tuesday suspended its Indian counterpart, for the second time in seven months, after two of its weightlifters ? Tejinder Singh and Edwin Raju ? tested positive during the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Two others, B. Prameelavalli and Shailaja Pujari, were caught for the same offence before the Games.

Unnerved by the provisional suspension of the Indian Weightlifting Federation, SAI has finally woken up. According to SAI sources, director general Ratan Watal has, at long last, decided to institute an inquiry into the conduct of the coaches and lifters.

According to Indian Olympic Association sources, the Indian federation could be banned from two to five years. While there is little doubt that the Indian contingent for the Doha Asian Games this year would be without weightlifters, they may even miss the Beijing Olympics.

The IWF decision said: “Regrettably, four adverse analytical findings were reported on the occasion of doping controls carried out on the Indian national team members this year. The IWF has been suspended, the duration of which will be decided by the International federation’s executive board at the end of May. Their provisional suspension will remain in force as long as all the applicable procedures have been completed.”

The SAI bosses are believed to be of the opinion that some of its coaches could also be involved. It has asked for a detailed report from Patiala where the Melbourne-bound team was training.

SAI, however, has no answer to what was the role of the dope control laboratory run by the SAI in Delhi’s Nehru Stadium for the past one and half decades.

While top federation officials, including president H.J. Dora and secretary Balbir Singh Bhatia, chose to keep their cellphones switched off, the mood of the trainee lifters at the Nehru Stadium was one of frustration and despair. Some of the trainees indicated that they may switch to other sports to avoid humiliation.

The SAI is embarrassed that it has nearly 1,000 trainees all over the country, whose careers could be completely jeopardised if the international body decides to impose a long ban.

While a section of the SAI officials are of the opinion that there is no need to spend money on weightlifting any more, others feel the trainees cannot be deserted like that.

“We have to do something for these young boys and girls. But then, the fact is that there could be no international competition for them for quite a few years now,” said a SAI official.