Dope tribunal passive as tainted athletes go scot-free

Despite repeated appeals by whistleblowers, government reluctant to initiate action

NEW DELHI: Revelations that hundreds of international endurance runners returned suspect samples in anti-doping tests over an 11-year period might have jolted the athletics world, but it’s unlikely to create a flutter in India.

The government agencies in the country have stonewalled all attempts to make public the names of 140-odd sportspersons, many of them elite athletes, who used performance-enhancing substances since 1991 but have largely gone unpunished.

Two whistleblowers, international runner Sunita Godara and husband Dalbir Singh, initiated the process of cleansing the system and filed public interest litigation on behalf of Health and Fitness Trust in 2002, but it’s been a story of dejection wherever they have appealed.

They forced the National AntiDoping Agency (NADA) to look into the matter in December 2011, but the case was closed in July 2012 on the grounds that NADA could “not deal with cases that transpired before 2009” as the anti-doping agency was set up in January 2009.

They then knocked the doors of NADA’s appellate court. But it’s been over two years and appellate panel is still sitting on their PIL, aimed at exposing the administrators and the alleged nexus between the government and federations.

Dalbir says the whole scenario looks like a state-sponsored doping programme. “Perhaps that’s why the sports ministry has made no effort to expose the channel of doping in the country. Instead, they made it mandatory in 2002 to screen top athletes before international meets, a practice still prevalent which reeks of statesponsored doping programme.

“Dope cheats were tested several times before being allowed to compete in international meets by the Dope Control Centre (DCC), set up in 1990 under the aegis of the Sports Authority of India (SAI), an agency responsible for training the country’s top athletes. So, one can see the nexus here,” adds Dalbir.

What’s more alarming, Dalbir says, is the fact that a large number of elite athletes who failed dope tests between 2001 and 2008 were allowed to compete abroad.

Ankush Gupta, a NADA official associated with the case, confirmed the case was still pending. He however, didn’t shed light on when the hearing would take place.

NADA’s director-general, Dr Venu V, wasn't available for his comments.