CHENNAI: The numbers definitely don’t lie. In 2022, there have been at least 123 positive cases of doping which is quite high. India once again could figure in the top on the World Anti-Doping Agency list. According to a statement tabled in the Rajya Sabha to a question on doping tests for sportspersons, the sports ministry said there were 123 anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) last year. The bright side is that the number of tests increased considerably.
The National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) has been doing its bit to catch dope cheats and going by the spate of recent positive cases, they are concentrating on big names across all sports. In 2022, the number of dope tests crossed 4000, 4260 to be precise, first time since 2019 when the figure was around 4228 (according to WADA testing report) with 196 adverse analytical findings (AAFs). Percentage-wise, it’s 2.88 per cent positive in 2022. In 2019, it was 4.63 per cent.
To put the percentage of positive cases in context, countries like China, Germany and Russia collected over 10,000 samples in 2021 (WADA anti-doping testing report). The China Anti-Doping Agency tested 24501 samples, with 57 positive cases; its AAF is at 0.2 per cent. Similarly, the German National Anti-Doping Agency collected 14738 samples that had 0.3 per cent (37 AAFs) and Russia National Anti-Doping Organisation tested 10,001 and had 85 positives at 0.8 per cent.
In 2020 and 2021, because of Covid 19 pandemic, the numbers were very low. One must also take into account that the National Dope Testing Laboratory too was suspended until December 2021 and could have had a role in low collections. In 2020, the testing figures were only 1250 and positive tests were 55 at a very high 4.4 per cent. Going by the WADA 2020 Anti-Doping Testing Figures, India was among the top nations and was No 1 if collection of 1000 or more samples was considered. In 2021, there were 46 positive cases from 1954 tests, which is relatively better than previous year.
Last year can be considered as one of the best years for NADA, not just in terms of collecting samples but also testing top athletes (both national and international medallists).