News / Sports

Iranian wrestler slapped with four-year ban for doping violation

Wednesday, 28 December 2016 1:30 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 28 December 2016 1:30 PM ]

Iranian heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler Bashir Babajanzadeh Darzi

Iranian heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler Bashir Babajanzadeh Darzi has been given a four-year ban after testing positive for consuming anabolic-androgenic steroids during the Greco-Roman World Cup held in the country earlier this year.

Vice president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Wrestling Federation, Hamid Banitamim, said the United World Wrestling took the measure against the 27-year-old sportsman after he was found to have traces of the banned drugs in his latest doping test.

Babajanzadeh Darzi was a member of the national Iranian Greco-Roman wrestling team during the Greco-Roman World Cup, which ran between May 19 and 20 in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz.

The Iranian squad overcame the Russian side 8-0 in the finals to claim the title of the competitions.

Turkey took the third place, while Kazakhstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Germany ranked fourth to eighth respectively.

During the wrestling bouts at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Babajanzadeh Darzi’s dream for a men's 130-kilogram repechage competition was shattered after Turkish wrestler Riza Kayaalp downed Germany’s Eduard Popp 8-0 by technical fall in the semifinal round, and the 25-year-old German did not manage to advance to the next level.

The 26-year-old Iranian heavyweight wrestler received a bye in the first round of his contests at the indoor Carioca Arena 2 stadium in Rio’s western district of Barra da Tijuca on August 15.

Babajanzadeh Darzi overcame 29-year-old Chinese counterpart Meng Qiang 3-1 in his first encounter. However, he conceded a 1-3 defeat against Popp later on.

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