Acting on the directives of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) concerning the Subrata Paul dope scandal, the All India Football Federation has sacked Sreejith Kamal as team doctor.
In Kamal's place, Punith Kenchappa Giriyappa has been appointed as the team doctor for the India U-23 side for the AFC U-23 Championship 2018 qualifiers, to be held in Qatar from July 19.
The AIFF made the announcement of the appointment of Giriyappa, who will join the U-23 team with immediate effect.
NADA had made scathing observations about Kamal in the Paul doping episode. It had said that Kamal failed to take due care in prescribing the medicine to the veteran goalkeeper which led to his ingestion of the prohibited substance Terbutaline.
Paul was let off with a warning and NADA had directed AIFF to take action against Kamal.
“In view of the decision by the Anti Doping Disciplinary Panel of NADA, All India Football Federation has appointed Dr. Punith Kenchappa Giriyappa as the team doctor for the India U-23 National Team for the forthcoming AFC U-23 Championship 2018 qualifiers to be held in Qatar from July 19, 2017,” the AIFF said in a statement.
“As the governing body of Indian Football, AIFF is committed to strictly adhering to all the relevant anti doping guidelines and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any violation in this regard,” it said.
Punith will join the Indian AFC U-23 team in Doha with immediate effect.
He was part of the medical team for the 2017 edition of the Indian Premier League in Bengaluru. He has also been a part of the medical team for the Pro Kabbadi League in Bengaluru last year.