Polo player Siddhant Sharma's clean chit in 14 days!

NEW DELHI: On Jan 1, 2026, the National Anti-Doping Agency (Nada) issued an updated list of athletes who were provisionally suspended for returning positive for banned substances, including professional polo player Siddhant Sharma, sanctioned after his urine sample collected during an in-competition test revealed traces of cocaine.Sharma was let off without any punishment, and his provisional suspension was withdrawn by the country’s anti-doping watchdog, allowing him to return as a player and represent Jindal Panthers, owned and captained by industrialist and Member of Parliament (MP) Naveen Jindal, in competitions ahead.

An anti-doping disciplinary panel (ADDP) was immediately formed, and its meeting was convened to hear Sharma’s case and the charges of ingesting cocaine brought against him.

It was learnt that Sharma waived his rights for ‘B’ sample testing.Within one hearing, Sharma’s case was decided in his favour and his suspension was lifted, relying solely on the player’s ‘sworn-in affidavit’ that he took substance on Oct 14, 2025, during a Diwali party. He was granted ‘conditional exoneration’ by the panel, pending final hearing.Nada issued his exoneration order on Jan 14, 2026, within a fortnight of the revelation of his doping offence.On Friday, Sharma appeared for Jindal Bedla against RPC/Thunderbolt in the Gayatri Devi Memorial scoring five goals.