A couple of days after the World Anti Doping Agency in its 2016 report, revealed that one Indian cricketer has tested positive for the use of a banned substance, Indian sports ministry has ordered the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) to conduct tests on the players. They also asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India to apply for the same.
The sports ministry’s decision has come in the aftermath of the BCCI not complying with the WADA even after one player was found to have used a banned substance. According to a report in the Times of India, the ministry has given NADA the “full authority and powers” to send its ‘dope control officers’ to the BCCI-recognised tournaments and matches to collect in-competition blood and urine samples of the cricketers.
“I have instructed NADA’s director general (Navin Agarwal) to send his DCOs to cricket tournaments in India to collect the samples of cricketers. If the BCCI resists or creates any hurdle in NADA’s functioning, we won’t hesitate from taking further action against the cricket board,” sports secretary Rahul Bhatnagar told the news outlet.
“We will first start with in-competition testing during matches played in India. Then, we will gradually move forward (to conduct out-of-competition testing). If the BCCI has not responded to NADA’s previous mails, doesn’t mean we (ministry) will stop discharging our duties. Let them first stop us from conducting dope tests. We will see what more needs to be done. The important thing is we will conduct testing within our parameters and rules and regulations as stipulated in the WADA Code,” Bhatnagar added.
On the other hand, another official made it clear that NADA would not hesitate in dragging the BCCI to the court in case they do not cooperate. Well, it seems NADA is taking no risks after getting the warning from WADA which had threatened to cancel NADA’s accreditation if the BCCI does not become WADA-compliant.
“BCCI is a public body. It’s true that it doesn’t take any financial grant from the ministry, but like any other national sports federation (NSF), it has to take permission to hold international tournaments and bilateral series. So, it can’t continue saying we won’t allow NADA to test cricketers but engage a private international dope testing firm (IDTM) for sample collection,” the official said.
“We have to take this issue to its logical conclusion once and for all. For now, we are going ahead with the sample collection. We don’t want to become non-compliant to the WADA Code,” Bhatnagar said.
The news outlet further reported that the players’ dope testing is set to start in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.
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