SAI to monitor athletes' performance

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is planning to form a regulatory body to monitor the sudden rise in the performance of athletes and whether they are using performance enhancing drugs.

The Sports Authority of India is planning to form a regulatory body to monitor the sudden rise in the performance of athletes and whether they are using performance enhancing drugs.

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SAI director general Desh Deepak Verma told reporters on Thursday that eight athletes failing a dope test is a cause of concern.

"It is a cause of concern. From now on, we should be more vigilant and definitely keep a watch on those athletes whose performance level improves a lot in a short span of time," said Verma.

Double Asian Games gold medallist Ashwini Akkunji, who was among the eight athletes to fail dope test, took everybody by surprise as she made substantial improvement in her Commonwealth Games timing to win the 400 meters hurdles gold at the Asiad.

Prior to the Commonwealth Games, the Indian team went on a training stint to Ukraine and now questions are being raised on the Eastern European country's credibility as a training centre. Sacked coach Yuri Ogorodnik, who was attached with the 400 metres sprint team, also hails from Ukraine.

Verma said that it would be unfair to blame a particular country but admitted that SAI could have been more vigilant before appointing the coach.

"It's unfair to blame a particular country for this. What we can do from now on is to thoroughly check the credentials of coaches who are being appointed. If we find that a certain coach has his wards are regularly being caught for doping, then we won't go ahead with the appointment," he said.