NEW DELHI: India’s consistent performance as one of the worst offenders in terms of doping has led to the sports ministry deliberating on making doping a criminal offence with both the athlete and coaches liable for conviction.
“We are deliberating if athletes can be sent to jail by introducing a new legislation which will make doping a criminal offence,” sports minister Vijay Goel confirmed on the sidelines of a consultation meeting for drafting anti-doping legislation. Adding that there would be ‘zero tolerance’ for doping and a need to encourage clean sports, Goel said that preventive and curative measures for necessary deterrence was essential.
He, however, admitted that talks were still on with all the stakeholders, including sports federations, before a final decision could be taken. Any such legislation would have to first get vetted by the law ministry before being presented to the cabinet for deliberation. Goel admitted there was no time frame for the same becoming a reality but hoped a Bill criminalising doping could be presented to the parliament by the winter session later this year.
He claimed that the doping menace was fast spreading to the lower levels of competitions.
“Earlier it was only restricted to the national level but it may soon spread to Universities and school competitions. Not only athletes but coaches and the rest of the support staff, whoever is involved, could be jailed. Everyone who aids doping would be covered in the new law,” Goel said.
National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) director general Navin Agarwal said that with no clear labelling on the supplements available in the open market and the absence of any mandatory prescriptions for the same, it was easy for athletes to make mistakes. Sports secretary Injeti Srinivas agreed, saying that while athletes are punished for the presence of prohibited substances in their body, there was need to regulate the activities of their support personnel as well.
India was ranked third in terms of dope offenders, behind Russia and Italy, for the third straight year in the WADA’s report for 2015. Thursday’s meeting included officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences, Food Safety Standards Authority of India and various sports federations.
