Need to increase dope test to pre-covid level
If wrestling turned into an international shame, doping is an issue that has been plaguing India on the global stage for quite some time now. India is nowhere on the top of the medals table at the Olympics, nor is it as dominant in the world championships, but when it comes to doping, it is right on top – in the top three, to be precise. The latest World Anti-Doping Agency’s Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) report of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is an indication that India is surely climbing to the top of the doping chart.
The latest 2020 figures from WADA show that India, with 59 doping violations, is behind Russia’s 135. What seems more disconcerting is the fact that India’s National Anti-Doping Agency collected 1,186 samples, out of which 55 returned positive. In 2019, the cases were alarmingly high. With 4,004 samples, it was one of the highest collections by NADA, and there were 225 Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs; these are the cases before all procedures are over). But when the WADA released its final ADRV report in 2019, the case list was pruned to 152 positives. India was third behind Russia (167) and Italy (157).
Among the 225 AAFs, 135 were listed as ADRVs by WADA, 89 as pending and one was exonerated. After that year, the Covid pandemic struck, and the figures reduced drastically because of the lockdown and other restrictions associated with the pandemic. The testing figures in 2021 have increased to 1794 with 42 AAFs. India was on top in terms of percentage among countries that have tested more than 100 samples. In 2018, India, with 107 ADRVs, was fourth behind Russia (144), Italy (132) and France (114).
Since the last couple of years, positive cases of top athletes in India have emerged during tests conducted by NADA. Even the Registered Testing Pool of NADA has the names of almost all big stars from all disciplines. Emphasis should be given to more out-of-competition sample collections. The testing figures of countries like the US, Russia and China are very high, if one goes by the 2020 data. The US tested more than 7,000, Germany, as usual, tested more than 10,000, and Russia collected 6,881. India, too, must ensure that the number of sampling increases to the pre-pandemic level. Managing ADRVs through a low collection of samples will only harm Indian sports, as dope cheats will always get an unfair advantage. After all, medals count, not failed dope tests.