New Delhi: The latest doping scandal that surfaced at the Commonwealth Games on Thursday could lead to a three-year ban being imposed on India by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

According to sources in the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the IWF may also impose a fine of $30,000 to $50,000 on the Weightlifting Federation of India (WFI) after Tejinder Singh and Edwin Raju tested positive for banned substances in Melbourne.

According to a SAI official, the IWF won’t let India slip away this time. “This is the third case of an Indian lifter testing positive in 2006. The international federation may force India to miss the Beijing Olympics. The ban may even be for five years,” he said.

“The international federation is not happy with the fact that a tainted coach like Pal Singh Sandhu, who was blamed for the Athens doping scandal, has been appointed adviser of the WFI,” the official said.

It was the Indian lifters’ first major international exposure after serving a one-year ban from all meets after the 2004 Olympics when Kunjurani Devi, Pratima Kumari and Sanamacha Chanu tested positive. Sunaina was caught during the Asian Championships in Kazakhstan the same year.

Four years ago, at the Manchester Commonwealth Games, two Indians, Satheesha Rai and K. Madaswamy, failed dope tests.

While Indian Olympic Association (IOA) officials expressed disappointment over the incident and wondered how the lifters could be caught after being tested by SAI on March 1, one SAI doctor had an interesting observation.

“All samples were sent to the dope control laboratory in Delhi before the squad left for Melbourne, yet such things happened. Let someone in the SAI explain why former dope control laboratory in-charge Dr Pradeep Gupta was transferred to Sonepat a few years ago. I am not implying anything, but these things need to be probed.”