New Delhi: Alarmed by the rise of doping cases in India, National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) will now join hands with National Forensic Sciences University and Food Safety Standards Authority of India to "protect" the country's athletes, Union Sports minister Anurag Thakur said here on Wednesday.
Thakur said this while addressing on the opening day of the 'WADA Athlete Biological Passport Symposium- 2022' that got underway here. "To ensure that our athletes are protected from inadvertent doping due to consumption of nutritional supplements with prohibited substances, NADA is collaborating with NFSU and FSSAI," Thakur said.
The main objective of the third edition of the symposium is to strengthen anti-doping measures in the country, which was ranked third behind Russia and Italy in terms of doping violations reported by WADA in 2019. The National Dope Testing Laboratory is in the process of setting up an Athlete Biological Passport Unit in India and Thakur said it would be a very important scientific tool in anti-doping and the related research not only detect but deter doping in sports.
Read: Discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur banned for three years for use of steroid
"The Symposium will turn out to be a big milestone in our collective fight against doping and also strengthen the anti-doping programme in India," Thakur said. "The recently enacted National Anti Doping Act 2022 is a manifestation of India's strong resolve for clean sport at all levels in the country," he added.
About 200-plus participants from 56 countries, WADA Officials, representatives and experts from different national anti-doping organisations, Athlete Passport Management Units and WADA accredited laboratories are attending the symposium. Thakur further urged all the participants to utilise this opportunity to equip themselves with knowledge, tools, research and expertise that would empower them to "protect our athletes and the entire sport ecosystem from the menace of doping. This symposium will enable us to strengthen the Anti-doping programme in India."
As per records, bodybuilding, weightlifting and athletics contribute most to the doping cases in India. At the last Olympics in Tokyo, India had a record haul of seven medals including a historic first athletics gold by javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra but the sport also brought infamy when discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur was suspended after testing positive for a banned substance.
She had finished sixth in the final after becoming the first Indian woman to breach the 65-metre mark. The Commonwealth Games Birmingham build-up was also marred after five athletes, including two from the para discipline, tested positive for banned substances.
PTI
