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Business Standard
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Business Standard
India's doping woes: WADA numbers shows high positivity rate for India
India's doping woes came to the fore once again with the country topping the World Anti-Doping Agency's 2023 testing figures among countries which analysed 5,000 or more samples even as the sports ministry promised an "aggressive clean-up" and an amended Anti-Doping Act after addressing objections from the WADA. India's positivity rate for banned substances stood at 3.8 per cent -- 214 Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF) from 5606 samples. The sample size was significantly higher from 2022 when 3865 tests returned an AAF rate of 3.2 per cent. Of the 5606 tests, 2748 were conducted in-competition. India's positivity rate for banned substances was significantly higher than China (28,197 samples, 0.2 per cent AAF rate), USA (6798 samples, 1.0 per cent AAF rate), France (11,368 samples, 0.9 per cent AAF rate), Germany (15,153 samples, 0.4 per cent AAF rate) and Russia (10,395 samples, 1.0 per cent AAF rate). As compared to India's 214, France, Russia, USA, China and Germany recorded 105, 99, 66, 60 and 57 AAFs respectively. "Any amount of doping is unacceptable but we have to acknowledge that our testing is vigorous and with every year the sample size is increasing. With our aggressive awareness campaigns, we intend to bring the numbers down in the next two years," a sports ministry source said when approached for a comment on the latest report. Globally, 204,809 tests were conducted in 2023, of which 1820 came positive for banned drugs with India's share of 214 accounting for over 11 per cent of the total number of offenders, the highest for any country. In all, Delhi's National Dope testing Laboratory (NDTL) tested 6,077 samples, including those from neighbouring countries. It's Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF) rate of 3.63 per cent makes up the highest percentage of positive dope results among the 30 WADA-accredited facilities across the world. Athletics leads the number of India's positive cases with 61 AAFs from 1223 samples -- 567 in-competition and 539 out-of-competition urine samples as well as 117 blood samples. One AAF was reported from among the blood samples. Weightlifting accounted for 38 AAFs from 451 samples, while powerlifting and wrestling contributed 28 and 10 AAFs respectively. The numbers have expectedly raised an alarm and an admission that the country is yet to implement its Anti-Doping Act, which was passed in 2022, due to objections from WADA on some unspecified provisions. "The NADA bill will be brought back to the Parliament after a restructuring. We have addressed the objections raised by WADA, which required changes to certain provisions," a sports ministry source said. The National Anti-Doping Act, 2022 empowers the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) with legal authority and investigative powers similar to law enforcement bodies. NADA even conducted a workshop recently involving officers of CBI and INTERPOL to understand doping investigation mechanisms, including interrogation of suspected dope offenders and banned substances' suppliers. "The ministry is going to tackle this menace aggressively. There will be compulsory monthly doping awareness programmes and nutritional supplements will be tested at specialised labs in Gandhinagar and Delhi to ensure that they do not contain prohibited substances," a ministry source said. "Most of the time, doping by a young athlete is either unintentional due to lack of knowledge or in desperation to get that one national performance that would help in getting a government job. But we will drill it into their psyche that they have more to lose if they don't comply with anti-doping rules," he added. A NADA source said that India has demonstratively upped its numbers as far as testing is concerned and in relative terms, there has been a marginal decline in positivity rate. "We had nearly the same positivity rate when we tested close to 4000 samples and now that rate has more or less remained the same with 1500 more tests this year. So, in relative terms there is a decline," he said. "But of course, even this number is unacceptable given our ambition to be a sporting powerhouse," he added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Hindu
5 hours ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
India's doping woes: WADA numbers show India has highest positivity rate among major countries
India's doping woes came to the fore once again with the country topping the World Anti-Doping Agency's 2023 testing figures among countries which analysed 5,000 or more samples even as the sports ministry promised an "aggressive clean-up" and an amended Anti-Doping Act after addressing objections from the WADA. India's positivity rate for banned substances stood at 3.8% -- 214 Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF) from 5606 samples. The sample size was significantly higher from 2022 when 3865 tests returned an AAF rate of 3.2%. Of the 5606 tests, 2748 were conducted in-competition. India's positivity rate for banned substances was significantly higher than China (28,197 samples, 0.2% AAF rate), USA (6798 samples, 1.0% AAF rate), France (11,368 samples, 0.9% AAF rate), Germany (15,153 samples, 0.4% AAF rate) and Russia (10,395 samples, 1.0% AAF rate). As compared to India's 214, France, Russia, USA, China and Germany recorded 105, 99, 66, 60 and 57 AAFs respectively. "Any amount of doping is unacceptable but we have to acknowledge that our testing is vigorous and with every year the sample size is increasing. With our aggressive awareness campaigns, we intend to bring the numbers down in the next two years," a sports ministry source said when approached for a comment on the latest report. Globally, 204,809 tests were conducted in 2023, of which 1,820 came positive for banned drugs with India's share of 214 accounting for over 11% of the total number of offenders, the highest for any country. In all, Delhi's National Dope testing Laboratory (NDTL) tested 6,077 samples, including those from neighbouring countries. It's Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF) rate of 3.63% makes up the highest percentage of positive dope results among the 30 WADA-accredited facilities across the world. Athletics leads the number of India's positive cases with 61 AAFs from 1223 samples — 567 in-competition and 539 out-of-competition urine samples as well as 117 blood samples. One AAF was reported from among the blood samples. Weightlifting accounted for 38 AAFs from 451 samples, while powerlifting and wrestling contributed 28 and 10 AAFs respectively. The numbers have expectedly raised an alarm and an admission that the country is yet to implement its Anti-Doping Act, which was passed in 2022, due to objections from WADA on some unspecified provisions. "The NADA bill will be brought back to the Parliament after a restructuring. We have addressed the objections raised by WADA, which required changes to certain provisions," a sports ministry source said. The National Anti-Doping Act, 2022 empowers the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) with legal authority and investigative powers similar to law enforcement bodies. NADA even conducted a workshop recently involving officers of CBI and INTERPOL to understand doping investigation mechanisms, including interrogation of suspected dope offenders and banned substances' suppliers. "The ministry is going to tackle this menace aggressively. There will be compulsory monthly doping awareness programmes and nutritional supplements will be tested at specialised labs in Gandhinagar and Delhi to ensure that they do not contain prohibited substances," a ministry source said. "Most of the time, doping by a young athlete is either unintentional due to lack of knowledge or in desperation to get that one national performance that would help in getting a government job. But we will drill it into their psyche that they have more to lose if they don't comply with anti-doping rules," he added. A NADA source said that India has demonstratively upped its numbers as far as testing is concerned and in relative terms, there has been a marginal decline in positivity rate. "We had nearly the same positivity rate when we tested close to 4000 samples and now that rate has more or less remained the same with 1500 more tests this year. So, in relative terms there is a decline," he said. "But of course, even this number is unacceptable given our ambition to be a sporting powerhouse," he added.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
India's doping woes: WADA numbers show India has highest positivity rate among major countries
India 's doping woes came to the fore once again with the country topping the World Anti-Doping Agency 's 2023 testing figures among countries which analysed 5,000 or more samples even as the sports ministry promised an "aggressive clean-up" and an amended Anti-Doping Act after addressing objections from the WADA. India's positivity rate for banned substances stood at 3.8 per cent -- 214 Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF) from 5606 samples. The sample size was significantly higher from 2022 when 3865 tests returned an AAF rate of 3.2 per cent. Of the 5606 tests, 2748 were conducted in-competition. India's positivity rate for banned substances was significantly higher than China (28,197 samples, 0.2 per cent AAF rate), USA (6798 samples, 1.0 per cent AAF rate), France (11,368 samples, 0.9 per cent AAF rate), Germany (15,153 samples, 0.4 per cent AAF rate) and Russia (10,395 samples, 1.0 per cent AAF rate). As compared to India's 214, France, Russia, USA, China and Germany recorded 105, 99, 66, 60 and 57 AAFs respectively. "Any amount of doping is unacceptable but we have to acknowledge that our testing is vigorous and with every year the sample size is increasing. With our aggressive awareness campaigns, we intend to bring the numbers down in the next two years," a sports ministry source said when approached for a comment on the latest report. Live Events Globally, 204,809 tests were conducted in 2023, of which 1820 came positive for banned drugs with India's share of 214 accounting for over 11 per cent of the total number of offenders, the highest for any country. In all, Delhi's National Dope testing Laboratory (NDTL) tested 6,077 samples, including those from neighbouring countries. It's Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF) rate of 3.63 per cent makes up the highest percentage of positive dope results among the 30 WADA-accredited facilities across the world. Athletics leads the number of India's positive cases with 61 AAFs from 1223 samples -- 567 in-competition and 539 out-of-competition urine samples as well as 117 blood samples. One AAF was reported from among the blood samples. Weightlifting accounted for 38 AAFs from 451 samples, while powerlifting and wrestling contributed 28 and 10 AAFs respectively. The numbers have expectedly raised an alarm and an admission that the country is yet to implement its Anti-Doping Act, which was passed in 2022, due to objections from WADA on some unspecified provisions. "The NADA bill will be brought back to the Parliament after a restructuring. We have addressed the objections raised by WADA, which required changes to certain provisions," a sports ministry source said. The National Anti-Doping Act, 2022 empowers the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) with legal authority and investigative powers similar to law enforcement bodies. NADA even conducted a workshop recently involving officers of CBI and INTERPOL to understand doping investigation mechanisms, including interrogation of suspected dope offenders and banned substances' suppliers. "The ministry is going to tackle this menace aggressively. There will be compulsory monthly doping awareness programmes and nutritional supplements will be tested at specialised labs in Gandhinagar and Delhi to ensure that they do not contain prohibited substances," a ministry source said. "Most of the time, doping by a young athlete is either unintentional due to lack of knowledge or in desperation to get that one national performance that would help in getting a government job. But we will drill it into their psyche that they have more to lose if they don't comply with anti-doping rules," he added. A NADA source said that India has demonstratively upped its numbers as far as testing is concerned and in relative terms, there has been a marginal decline in positivity rate. "We had nearly the same positivity rate when we tested close to 4000 samples and now that rate has more or less remained the same with 1500 more tests this year. So, in relative terms there is a decline," he said. "But of course, even this number is unacceptable given our ambition to be a sporting powerhouse," he added.
Al Etihad
a day ago
- Sport
- Al Etihad
UAE affirms commitment to strengthening international anti-doping cooperation
19 June 2025 13:26 DUBAI (Aletihad)Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Sports, Vice President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC), and Chairman of the Executive Board, met on Wednesday in Dubai with Witold Bańka, President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and his accompanying included Dr. Mai Al Jaber, President of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADO), Major General Dr. Mohammed Al Murr and Ahmed Abdul Malik, Board Members of the NOC, and Rafia Al Owais, Vice President of the National Anti-Doping meeting took place on the sidelines of the 20th Asian and Oceania Anti-Doping Ministers' Meeting 2025 and addressed several topics of mutual interest within the Olympic and sports discussions highlighted the growing importance of anti-doping efforts, which remain among the most pressing challenges facing both the sports and Olympic sectors. This comes in light of the rapid advancements in scientific research and specialised studies, which continue to draw close attention from stakeholders across the global sports meeting also highlighted the importance of raising awareness about the dangers of doping on athletes' health and the integrity of competitions and the central role played by both national and international agencies in ensuring a fair and transparent sporting environment rooted in principles of justice and Al Falasi commended WADA's pioneering efforts and initiatives aimed at promoting clean and safe sport worldwide. He also affirmed that the UAE has made significant progress in this vital area through the ambitious strategy pursued by the UAE NADO, which features clearly defined goals within a long-term framework to combat the spread of doping, a threat to the future of sport and its noble values. The two parties also explored ways to strengthen cooperation between the UAE, represented by its National Anti-Doping Agency, and WADA.
2 days ago
- Politics
Had a belly full. Could Chinese swimmers have eaten 5 kilos of food en route to failed doping test?
The head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency told senators that Chinese swimmers would have had to eat around 11 pounds (5 kilograms) of food to test for the amounts of the performance enhancer that resulted in the much-debated positive drug tests from 2021 that were later disregarded. 'It's unbelievable to think that Tinkerbell just showed up and sprinkled it all over the kitchen,' Travis Tygart said in a Senate hearing Tuesday focused on the World Anti-Doping Agency's response to the doping case. A key part of that case was WADA's acceptance of the explanation from Chinese authorities that the swimmers had been contaminated by traces of the drug Trimetazidine (TMZ) in a hotel kitchen. USADA scientists analyzed data from a report commissioned by WADA to come up with the amount of food (5 kilos) or liquid (4.9 liters) the athletes would have had to have consumed to test positive at the levels they did. WADA officials declined to participate in the hearing, which spokesperson James Fitzgerald called 'another political effort led by Travis Tygart ... to leverage the Senate and the media in a desperate effort to relitigate the Chinese swimming cases and misinform athletes and other stakeholders.' Also testiying was former U.S. drug czar, Rahul Gupta, whose decision at the start of this year to withhold $3.6 million in funding — the biggest single chunk that WADA receives on an annual basis — furthered a long-running feud between U.S. and WADA authorities. The Senate subcommittee holding the hearing is considering a bill that would give the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy — the so-called drug czar — permanent authority to withhold those funds, without needing year-to-year permission from Congress. In his prepared testimony, Gupta compared WADA's governance challenges to a used car. 'You expect that the car has been thoroughly inspected, that it's safe and roadworthy,' he said. 'But as soon as you drive it off the lot, the brakes fail and the engine sputters — and only then do you learn that the dealership has a history of skipping inspections altogether.' Gupta and Tygart recommended a host of reforms for WADA, most of which revolve around ensuring independence, which they say cannot be accomplished under the current model that calls on the International Olympic Committee to supply half of WADA's money. Gupta also pressed for the United States to regain a seat on WADA's executive committee that it lost in the aftermath of the dues flareup. Also testifying was Katie McLaughlin, a member of the U.S. 4x200 freestyle team that won a silver medal at the 2021 Olympics. The Americans finished second to a Chinese team that had two swimmers whose positives were erased after WADA declined to look further into the contamination case. 'It was devastating, honestly,' McLaughlin said of hearing the news about the doping case. 'I was taken aback and heartbroken. I spent a lot of my career trusting in the powers that be, and it was really sad to find out that's someone who could not be trusted, meaning WADA.' The investigator WADA hired to look into the Chinese doping case ruled that WADA had acted reasonably in not pursuing the Chinese case but still called it 'curious' that the agency did not further pursue facts that didn't line up with the normal handling of contamination cases. Fitzgerald, the WADA spokesperson, said the agency did, in fact, address some of the concerns in the report, especially about the way contaminations cases are handled. 'As highlighted by the Chinese cases and many others, the issue of contamination is real and growing and it is crucial that WADA and its partners address it head on,' he said. Tygart led off his testimony claiming the Chinese case had potentially impacted 96 medals from the 2021 and 2024 Olympics. WADA argued with that, with Fitzgerald reiterating the agency's long-held legal position that, given the complexities of the evidence, had it taken appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, it would have lost all of them.
