On Tuesday evening, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), released a summary report after a years-long investigation, titled 'Operation Carousel', in NADA, into the National Anti-Doping Agency of India (NADA). Here's a detailed explainer of why WADA felt compelled to run an investigation and the details of the investigation.
When did WADA begin the investigation?
The body formally launched Operation Carousel in 2019. But they had begun liaising with NADA as early as 2016. In 2017, the world body audited the NADA anti-doping programme. That audit found: "... several non-conformities and resulted in WADA issuing a Corrective Action Report (“CAR”). Such reports assist a Signatory to enhance their anti-doping program, on a priority basis, by providing a timeline for the implementation of corrective actions." WADA issued a second CAR to NADA in 2020. "That identified non-conformities in several testing-related areas, including some of those outlined in this report."
Why did WADA launch Operation Carousel?
Sometime in 2018, WADA's Intelligence and Investigation department launched an investigation into an allegation "that certain elements of NADA’s testing program were not in accordance with the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Code (“Code”) and the International Standard for Testing and Investigation (“ISTI”) and the International Standard for Result Management (“ISRM”)," according to the report. This allegation was passed on to WADA in 2019.
What did OC do?
It began monitoring certain sports and athletes in 2019. "As a result of this monitoring, OC recommended to NADA that it develop a testing program on Indian powerlifters. In response, NADA undertook several sample collections, and seven powerlifters were caught doping and sanctioned." More significantly, in the lead up to the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, OC "began examining the doping practices (e.g., substances, sports, prevalence) and patterns of Indian Athletes. "In April 2022, OC provided the 2022 Pre-Birmingham Games Anti-Doping Taskforce (the “Pre-Games Taskforce”) with a detailed report on the doping practices and patterns of Indian Athletes. This report enabled the PreGames Taskforce to tailor its testing plans and risk assessments for Indian Athletes. In compiling the report, OC reviewed the data of 192 Indian Athletes."
Was there any target testing?
Yes. "In May 2022, target testing was conducted on 13 high-level Indian Athletes training abroad (outside of India). OC had been monitoring these Athletes for some time. Of the 13 Athletes targeted, four had not filed their mandatory Whereabouts and one had updated their Whereabouts at the last minute and falsely claimed to have been in India. From the target testing an Athlete tested positive. More specifically, an anabolic steroid was discovered in the sample of one of the Athletes. This Athlete later admitted the violation and was sanctioned. Notably, the sanctioned Athlete was one of the four that had not made the mandatory Whereabouts Filing.
Did OC also find gaps in NADA's testing process?
Yes. They found out that "NADA's supervision of 'Whereabouts was inadequate, that there was a lack of sufficient testing, and that NADA did not have an effective intelligence or investigative capability," according to the report (Whereabouts is an important tool to prevent athletes from cheating the system).
Did OC get in touch with NADA after this?
Again, yes. "On 17 November 2022, OC wrote to NADA and raised concerns about NADA’s capabilities and practices. More specifically, NADA’s unsatisfactory oversight and management of Whereabouts Filings, and its inadequate testing of Athletes within its RTP. To that end, OC revealed to NADA that of the 131 Athletes in NADA’s RTP (the “RTP Athletes”), more than a quarter (25%) had either not made a Whereabouts Filing at the required times or had made a ‘delayed’ Whereabouts Filing (this being a practice whereby an Athlete does not file their Whereabouts until the last month of a particular quarter, meaning, for the first two months of that quarter, the Athlete makes no Whereabouts Filing). Moreover, despite the mandatory requirement to register all established Whereabouts Failures in ADAMS, NADA had not registered a Whereabouts Failure in ADAMS against any of the identified Athletes.
What was NADA's response?
Following a review, they had discovered "41 Filing Failures and that 28 Missed Tests were now in the final stages of review." Moreover, from the NADA testing that had been triggered by the intervention of Operation Carousel, four Athletes had tested positive (i.e., AAF) for Prohibited Substances. Of these four Athletes, one was part of the 28 Athletes who, as of 17 November 2022, had not been tested in 2022, and one had not been tested out of competition in 2022. In May 2023, NADA reported to Operation Carousel that ultimately, between 17 November 2022 and 16 May 2023, it had discovered and recorded 97 Whereabouts Failures against 70 Athletes. Moreover, in one case, a Results Management process for a Code Article 2.4 violation (Whereabouts Failure) had commenced.
Do we know the names of the athletes the system has flagged?
No, WADA didn't release their names to protect their privacy.