Chandigarh, December 3
Despite Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal’s claims of making the third edition of World Cup Kabaddi “drug free”, National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) experts are yet to visit any of the venues for random sampling of participants.

This has ensured that athletes participating in the championship have escaped the anti-doping agency’s net at least till the knockout stage. Teams that fail to make the knockout stage would face no threat of being caught for doping, revealed a source in the organising committee.

Argentinian and Iranian players in action during the third World Cup Kabaddi match in Hoshiarpur on Monday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

Anti-doping agency teams were summoned to test Indian players, both men and women, on the eve of the start of the much-publicised event, sources said, but the preliminary results are awaited. As a precautionary measure, some extras were included in the Indian teams as a replacement for those who may fail the dope test.

Championship organisers, Sports Department and Punjab Amateur Kabaddi Association (PAKA), were confident that a last-minute request to the anti-doping agency would suffice, but its chairman is learnt to have written to the organising committee seeking clarifications before starting random sampling of participants.

“Certain procedures have to be followed to put men and machinery in place for conducting tests to detect consumption of performance-enhancing prohibited substances. Directions were not followed. As a result, doping that should have started before the start of the World Cup may not be possible till the knock out stage -- semi-finals -- is reached,” he is reported to have written. The previous two editions of World Cup Kabaddi have been mired in doping controversies. The number of athletes who tested positive for taking prohibited substances was alarmingly high. While one of the teams had to be disqualified, another semi-finalist team just escaped an unceremonious exit from the tournament. And this time round, wittingly or unwittingly, organisers have come to the rescue of those who abuse prohibited substances to enhance their performance on the field.

The organisers have no mechanism in place to ensure that those who test positive for doping remained debarred from participation in any sporting event for two or more years. The reason: not many countries have officially recognised kabaddi associations to enforce NADA and WADA recommendations.

In the absence of “doping control”, the efforts of Sukhbir — the moving spirit behind the championship — to project kabaddi as an Olympic sport also received a setback. There was gross violation of Olympic conventions and traditions at the opening ceremony in Bathinda on Sunday.

The practice is that an outstanding athlete from the host nation takes the oath to follow rules and regulations of the sport on behalf of all participants, but in Bathinda, a TV commentator took the oath. No leader of any participating team held the tip of its National Flag as endorsement. Part of the marchpast on motorcycles, too, has not been taken well.

Chequered Past

An alarmingly high number of athletes had tested positive for taking prohibited substances in the previous World Cup Kabaddi

While one of the teams had to be disqualified, another semi-finalist team just escaped an exit from the tournament. Some players had refused to undergo doping tests

This time round, wittingly or unwittingly, organisers have come to the rescue of those who abuse prohibited substances to enhance their performance on the field

National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) experts are yet to visit any of the venues for random sampling of participants