The Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT), Coimbatore, will carry out various activities to curb the use of performance-enhancing drugs among athletes, according to District Sports Officer R.P. Ravichandran.
The authority will place boards with anti-doping messages in Nehru Stadium, and ask organisers of athletic events to brief the participants on the ill-effects of drugs, he said, in response to reports on used syringes and vials of suspected performance-enhancing drug found in the rest rooms of the stadium on Saturday.
According to him, the Coimbatore district athletics championship was held in the stadium recently. The 61st State police inter-zonal athletics meet concluded on December 17 and the Coimbatore Bar Association’s athletics meet was held on December 18. He said that the organisers of the police meet had informed all managers and participants regarding the ban on and ill-effects of doping. Private clubs are also conducting regular training in the stadium.
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“All sports events at Nehru Stadium are conducted by the District Athletics Association. Due to frequent sports events and regular training at the stadium, we cannot pinpoint someone for this [the used syringes and vials],” he said.
“Nowadays, use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes is on the rise in national level tournaments for name and fame. Doping test involves a huge cost on the State exchequer. So, the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) conducts random tests on national medal winners. Seminars [on doping] are conducted by NADA and SDAT at regular intervals for coaches,” he said.