Why are Indian athletes taking to banned drugs?

Questionable testing methods and increased prize money at the international level are being cited as the root causes.

A lack of authenticity for the country's lone dope control centre, questionable testing procedures and increased prize money for medal winners at the international level are being cited as the root causes of an increasing number of Indian athletes turning to drugs in quest for glory.

HT Image

Woman weightlifters Pratima Kumari and Sanamacha Chanu, who tested for banned substances a few days ago at the ongoing Athens Olympics, are the latest to bring ignominy to a country that is struggling to come up in sports on the world stage.

It would have been only the doping and disappointments at Athens had shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore not won the double trap silver.

The lone silver is the return for nearly a billion rupees (about $22 million) spent by the government on the training of athletes and assistance to sports federations between 2002-2003 and Aug 12, 2004.

India probably may not have had to face the embarrassment at Athens had the Sports Authority of India's (SAI) dope control centre received a certificate of authenticity from the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).

"Our results cannot relied upon fully," said a scientist of the dope control laboratory at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The reason is that despite the laboratory having been awarded two ISO certificates, it is still not fully equipped as per the WADA rules so as to satisfy the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

While all the other mandatory equipments have been procured and commissioned, one important element - the Isotope Rato Mass Spectrometer (IRMS) - is still missing.

"The upgradation of the SAI dope control centre is an ongoing process," the sports ministry told Parliament a few days ago.