Two athletes from Uzbekistan have run into doping-control trouble at the Asian Games in Japan, with both competitors suspended from the tournament, the website infohub.kz reports.
According to Sports.kz, the International Testing Agency (ITA) was the first to report a suspected anti-doping rule violation by Uzbek mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Nodirbek Shavkatov. Meldonium was found in a sample collected on September 22 during out-of-competition testing in Japan.
Shavkatov has been provisionally suspended pending resolution of his case. While suspended, he is barred from competing, training, coaching and any other activity within the framework of the 2026 Asian Games.
The athlete has the right to challenge the provisional suspension before the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ADD) and to request analysis of his B sample. It is noted that he had earlier won a bronze medal at the competition.
According to Sportarena.kz, another Uzbek athlete has failed a doping test: the sample of canoeist Pavel Eygiel returned an adverse analytical finding for trimetazidine.
The substance is banned both in and out of competition and is classified as a non-specified prohibited substance, the report stresses. The sample was collected by ITA specialists on September 23, 2026, in Japan as part of out-of-competition testing.
The athlete has been notified of the violation and provisionally suspended until the proceedings are completed. He, too, may challenge the suspension.