National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) director general Navin Agarwal informed that they will be conducting the dope test during the IPL 2020 edition in the UAE. He also stated that NADA is also looking to join hands with the UAE’s National Anti-Doping Committee (NADO) for testing.
With the COVID-19 fear, the testing would be done with keeping in mind all the safety protocols. It would be no-contact testing and the local authorities will be educated about the same.
NADA will be sending it’s Dope Control Officers (DCOs) to the UAE and their travelling expense would be bare by them. However, they might stay in the Board of Control for Cricket In India’s (BCCI) bio-secure bubble.
“We will be conducting the dope testing at the IPL like any other BCCI event, following the health and safety protocols. We will be organising the DCOs trip, either from India or the UAE or both to the match venues. NADA has discussed the issue with the UAE NADO and some amount of understanding has already been reached. We are waiting for the IPL governing council to finalise the tournament fixtures to plan accordingly,” NADA director general, Navin Agarwal, told TOI.
Also, It would be the first time that NADA will be doing dope testing of IPL players. Previously, it was a Sweden-based International Dope Test and Management (IDTM) that did the testing for cricketers involved in the T20 league.
As reported by the Times of India, The Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) that will be followed in UAE during IPL will be of NADO’s, with both in out-of-competition testing to be done.
NADA will also have the financial burden cost of testing each sample in the Doha laboratory has been reported to be USD 350. So, it is expected that there might be fewer tests.