M A I N   N E W S

IOA wants probe into doping scam
Slams anti-doping agency NADA, says it should have conducted regular tests
MS Unnikrishnan
Tribune News Service

Malhotra sought a high-level judicial probe into the whole episode, as more athletes have tested positive in the tests conducted by the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL). They include Sini Jose and Tiana Mary Thomas, who both were 400m runners and were part of the Indian relay team for the Asian Championship to be held in Kobe (Japan).

Caught Mandeep and Jauna flunked out-of-competition tests conducted by International Association of Athletics Federations at NIS Patiala last month. Sini, Mary Thomas, and Sonia returned positive in in-competition tests by NADA during June 11-14 Senior National Inter-state Athletics Meet in Bangalore Hari Krishnan failed an out-of-competition test conducted in Pune this month Jauna also failed the test conducted by NADA in Bangalore What happens now:  All six athletes have been provisionally suspended till their disciplinary hearings are completed and quantum of punishments decided.

The other athletes caught were Haryana woman shot putter Soniya and long jumper Hari Krishnan Muralidharan of Services. Malhotra said the NADA should have conducted regular tests on athletes during the national championships, inter-state meets and coaching camps so that the country’s name could be saved from disgrace.

He said the Sports Authority of India (SAI), too, could not be absolved from the blame. “In the past, sting operations have revealed presence of syringes and other clear evidences of doping in bathrooms of the SAI centres in Patiala and other places. However, SAI has done nothing to stop the menace,” said Malhotra.

“This strengthens our suspicion that doping is being done with the connivance of the SAI and other officials concerned,” Malhotra told The Tribune. Dr PSM Chandran, who is on the NADA hearing panel on confirmed dope cases, said doping was rampant among athletes, though he was categorical that such things could not proliferate without official patronage.

“Mandeep Kaur and Jauna Murmu are not criminals; they are victims of a system. They are well aware of doping menace in sports. They have knowingly and willfully followed the training methodology advocated by the coaches and recovery experts who were thrust on them by the authorities, who run sports in the country. If these athletes are culpable of doping offences, so are their coaches, support staff and sports administrators,” Chandran added.

Malhotra, expressing grave concern at several cases of positive tests, asserted that the “IOA will not spare the guilty persons involved in this disgraceful activity”. Seeking full facts from the Athletics Association of India, SAI and NADA on the dope cases, the IOA president asserted that he would do whatever was possible to make Indian sports drug-free. “India is a party to the International Charter on this issue,” he noted. “Some sportspersons have brought shame to the country and it is not acceptable.”

Malhotra said though this was not the first time that the country’s image took a beating, he wanted to know what the officials responsible for training and coaching of sportspersons in the SAI centres were doing.

“There seems to be a big scam behind this drug scandal in which not only the athletes but other officials are also involved,” he maintained. He recalled that the country had to pay a heavy fine of over rupees one crore to get the ban on the weightlifters lifted on the eve of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. “If some sportspersons and officials think that that is a precedent, then they are mistaken,” he warned.

He said the IOA wanted a “comprehensive enquiry” to expose the nexus between the “medicine (drug) suppliers, coaches, doctors and other officials, along with the involved sportspersons”. “What is disturbing is the fact that the involved sportspersons have won several medals at home and abroad, are well educated and should have been well aware of what they were taking”.

He promised that the IOA would not take the issue lightly, nor will it sweep the matter under carpet because some medal winners were involved.

“For long, Indian sport has suffered because of the emotional blackmail by the players and officials, but no longer,” asserted Malhotra. He wanted a full report from SAI as what action it was planning against its own guilty officials “on this sordid issue” and promised, “the IOA will not spare the guilty, however big their names may be”.