Hall of shame: WADA ranks India third on dope list
Sabi Hussain
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 18
In a shocking revelation for the country's anti-doping machinery, India has been ranked third among the dope offenders by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), highlighting how deep the menace runs in the Indian sporting system.
According to the 2013 Anti-Doping Rule Violations Report, released by the WADA, Russia tops the list with 212 testing offences, followed by Turkey and India at the second and the third spot with 155 and 91 offences, respectively. Of the 91 Indians, 20 were women athletes.
The track and field athletes lead the Indian dope charts with 30 cases, followed by weightlifting (19) and wrestling (9). Other sports caught in the doping net are powerlifting (8), bodybuilding (8), judo (7), boxing (4), aquatics (2), cycling (2), kabbadi (2), cricket (1), football (1), taekwondo (1) and volleyball (1).
The report is based mainly on the information received from National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs).
The embarrassing revelation has again showcased the need to have a robust scientific and research system in India. According to experts and former players, the Indian coaches, doctors and physiotherapists, attached with teams of different disciplines, lack basic knowledge of the use of performance-enhancing supplements and medicines to be administered in case of an injury.
"For two consecutive years, India was second only to Russia in most number of athletes sanctioned for the use of prohibited substances. This shows how desperately we need a robust scientific and research system to curb the menace," former SAI sports medicine expert PSM Chandran told The Tribune.
Chandran did not seem surprised by the high number of dope offenders in the country. He said athletes from developed countries know how to outsmart the system.
"They would be using those medicines which are not prohibited by the WADA. It's because they have good scientific support system in place, unlike in India. They research about new medicines and use it to enhance their performance. They hardly get caught because of their advanced sporting system. In India, there is no scientific back-up as such. Our sportspersons lack scientific support. We don't have good doctors and physios because they don't do research at all. Their lack of knowledge of the prohibited substances land athletes in trouble," added Chandran.
India's celebrated marathon runner Sunita Godara said the lack of proper sports medicines centres in the country, combined with t he poor knowledge of nutritional supplements on the part of coaches, has made India a hub of dope offenders.
"There are hardly any qualified people to provide guidance in sports medicine, dietary supplements and training. It's up to the coaches to tell athletes about nutritional supplements, but they themselves seem unfamiliar with it. India lack specialised experts in the field of sports medicine," Godara said.
She cited an RTI report of the year 2013 which had revealed that a total of 500 athletes failed dope tests from January 2009 to July 2013.
According to the report released by the WADA, India has 95 Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs), fourth in the list behind Russia (225), Turkey (188) and France (108). In all, 1953 athletes across the globe committed anti-doping rule violations, out of which 1687 were caught for using banned substances while 266 violated other rules (non-analytical ADRVs).
