Doping cuts India’s Commonwealth Games weightlifting quota, Dilbagh Singh withdrawn

Indian weightlifting’s troubled doping history has come back to haunt the team after it was forced to withdraw a lifter from the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which begins in Glasgow, Scotland, on Thursday.
Weightlifter Dilbagh Singh will not take part in the competition and will return home after five Indian lifters were caught in the doping net during the qualification period — from June 1, 2025, to July 22, 2026 — for this year’s edition.
As per Clause 2.4 of the Glasgow 2026 Weightlifting Qualification System, India’s team quota was reduced from 16 to 11 contestants after five Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) were recorded during the prescribed qualification period.
Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) president Sahdev Yadav said the decision to send Dilbagh back was taken after receiving correspondence from Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha.
“We have already told Dilbagh about our decision. He was injured and may not have performed to his potential, so we decided to send him back,” Yadav told The Tribune from Glasgow.
IOA president PT Usha was in touch with Commonwealth Sport and the organisers and had even requested that India’s quota be retained at 11, but the organisers stated that the qualification system was binding.
“Immediately upon receipt of the communication, I took up the matter personally with the Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth Sport, requesting that the decision be reconsidered on humanitarian and equitable grounds. In particular, I highlighted that the athletes responsible for the ADRVs are no longer part of the Indian contingent and that the reduction would ultimately deprive a clean and duly qualified athlete of the opportunity to compete despite having committed no violation,” Usha said in her mail to IWLF president.
“In view of the above, there is now an urgent need to take a final decision regarding the athlete who will be withdrawn from the Weightlifting contingent, while simultaneously considering whether the Indian Weightlifting Federation wishes to pursue the Executive Board Review on any of the permissible grounds indicated by Commonwealth Sport,” she added.
Subsequently, the Indian contingent was left with two options — either withdraw an athlete or seek an Executive Board Review to determine whether India had failed to “apply the qualification rules correctly or there was an error of fact”. The IWLF opted to withdraw Dilbagh Singh.