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Business Standard
5 days ago
- Sport
- Business Standard
IOA panel to urge ministry for criminal law on doping substance peddlers
The seven-member committee of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), set up to tackle doping in the country, will recommend the sports ministry to pass a law that will make peddling of performance-enhancing drugs and selling banned substances in open market a criminal activity. IOA executive council member Rohit Rajpal, who is heading the panel, said organised drug rackets have been playing a part in the dope menace and the committee will make guidelines and recommendations to deal with the matter in a very aggressive manner. "The IOA is very serious about the doping menace. We (the panel) want to recommend the sports ministry to make a law so that peddling of performance-enhancing drugs and selling these banned substances in open market become a criminal activity. Let's see," Rajpal, a former India tennis player, told PTI on Thursday. The panel was formed after India's poor doping record was flagged by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during a national delegation's visit to push for the 2036 Olympic bid. India had last month topped the World Anti-Doping Agency's 2023 testing figures among countries which analysed 5,000 or more samples with a high positivity rate of 3.8 per cent for banned substances. Former Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adille Sumariwalla was the one who had advocated making use of performance-enhancing substances a criminal offence, but drug cheats are still not liable for penal action under existing Indian laws. Rajpal, a former Davis Cupper, made it clear that he was not talking about making athletes liable to penal action for doping. "I am not talking about the athletes but about the drug peddlers. The amount of banned and performance-enhancing drugs available in the market is too high. And organised rackets pushed these drugs all over the country," he said. "Many of our athletes are from humble backgrounds and don't have much awareness about which drug is permissible to be used and which is banned. That is a problem and we have to work on that aspect also," added Rajpal, who is also the IOA Anti-Doping chairman. He said that coaches also play a big role in this menace. Earlier, while addressing an IOA press conference, Rajpal talked about "holistic doping prevention programme" that his committee will look at. "In recent months there has been growing global spotlight on doping and the challenges athletes face in navigating complex anti-doping rules. While India has made significant strides in the fight against doping through the efforts of NADA, federations and athlete support teams, it is clear that much more needs to be done at grassroots and education level. "People who are pushing these kind of supplements or performance enhancing drugs, which are second and third generation in this country, it's become an organised racket pushing these drugs all over the country and the athletes mostly don't even know what they are having. "So, all these areas are going to be attacked by all of us in a very aggressive manner and hopefully we will have a free and fair sport going forward," he said. He said the IOA is launching a dedicated anti-doping education programme with immediate effect. "The committee will be responsible for designing and rolling out a sustained anti-doping education and awareness campaign targeting athletes at all levels from grassroots to elite, coaches and support staff, federation administrators and sports officials and most importantly parents and guardians of young athletes. "The idea here is that through education and awareness, we are going to try to reach the last corner of this country to educate athletes as to what they are using. "At the same time, there are labs that are being at the moment looked into and analysed. When they can come, more and more testing can happen and those labs can be accredited for this programme," said Rajpal who has earlier served at NADA Anti-Doping Panels. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CNA
5 days ago
- Politics
- CNA
India sets house in order, targets doping menace to boost 2036 bid
NEW DELHI :The usually fractious Indian Olympic Association (IOA) put on a united front and declared a war against doping on Thursday to boost the country's bid to host the 2036 Games in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. The world's most populous nation, which staged the 2010 Commonwealth Games in its capital New Delhi, has confirmed bidding for the 2036 edition of "the greatest show on earth". Indonesia, Turkey, and Chile are also bidding for the 2036 Olympics, and Qatar on Tuesday became the latest country to show interest in hosting the Games. An Indian delegation visited the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne this month and media reports said the IOA was told to put its house in order and address the threat of doping. IOA President P.T. Usha spoke to media on Thursday, accompanied by several executive council members, who discussed a no-confidence motion to oust her last year. "What came out (in the media) was probably exaggerated," executive council member Harpal Singh told reporters. "In the interest of the nation, we have resolved all those minor differences within ourselves. "I assure you that going forward, we will strongly stand united and bid for the 2036 Olympic Games." The IOA has decided to address the country's dismal doping record in recent years. Rohit Rajpal, another IOA executive council member, said India had made "significant strides" but an "organised racket" stood in the way of cleaning up sports. "All these areas are going to be attacked by all of us in a very aggressive manner, and hopefully we'll have a free-and-fair sport," Rajpal said after announcing a new anti-doping education programme. IOA chief executive Raghuram Iyer was upbeat about India's chances of getting the 2036 Games. "We are in the stage of continuous dialogue with the IOC," said Iyer. "It's a lot about sustainability, athlete-centric work and the legacy that you're going to leave." With new IOC President Kirsty Coventry pausing the venue selection process, Iyer is expecting more countries to enter the race to host the 2036 Games. "I think in the next couple of years is when we will really get to know which direction it is going to," Iyer said. "It was a very positive meeting with the IOC top brass. The follow-up would be, at some point in time, they would look at coming down to India very soon." India is also bidding to host the Commonwealth Games again in 2030.
