Extravagance has been a feature of almost everything connected with the Commonwealth Games organisation.

From complicated, costly roofs of stadia, to treadmills at outrageous prices, the Games have set high standards.

The anti-doping division in the Organising Committee (OC) has not been an exception to this rule. The OC Doping Control Division has specially trained 450 persons for the Games to act as Doping Control Officers (DCOs) and chaperons.

According to an OC release, the selection and training had been conducted in accordance with the International Standards of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Was there a necessity to go through with a training programme for so many people when several hundred trained personnel were available?

The Indian Federation of Sports Medicine (IFSM) has held workshops and courses to train medical, paramedical and other personnel as DCOs for the past five years, in association with the Sports Authority of India (SAI). SAI itself has held courses at different centres in the country to train DCOs over several years. “We have trained around 150 people over the past five years through our courses,” said the IFSM President, Dr. P.S.M. Chandran, on Tuesday.

“Moreover SAI has trained around 550 people over the years through its training programme,” Dr Chandran revealed. Last year, the IFSM course was held specifically with the Games in mind. “Around 60 per cent of the people who attended the course and got certificates were drawn from Delhi,” said Dr. Chandran. He had forwarded a list of trained persons to the OC.

“Many of them are now asking whether they have any chance of figuring in the anti-doping effort and I tell them, fresh batches have been trained by the OC and there is no chance for them,” he said.

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