Despite the risks involved in getting engaged in regulating or approving dietary supplements for sportspersons, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has brought in fresh norms dealing with the subject.
The fresh regulations, issued on February 28 last, can still pose problems for the SAI in the anti-doping domain even if the intention might have been to distance itself from the exercise and put the onus on the athletes.
According to the new regulations, a technical committee in the SAI would first prepare a “menu” of supplements.
The requirements for individual sportspersons would then be decided by a sports medicine specialist and/or a sports nutritionist in consultation with the chief coach and the athlete.
“At the time of prescription the sports scientists will ensure that food supplements prescribed belong to manufacturers whose produces have been tested for not containing banned substances,” says a SAI circular.
The sports medicine expert is supposed to verify this from “variouswebsites and from other sources.”
Once the specialist prescribes a supplement on a request from the athlete, a committee consisting of the athlete, a coach at a national camp and a SAI official (or a representative of the federation if the venue is Delhi or a non-SAI centre) will procure the supplement from pharmacies.
The integrity of the pharmacy has to be verified, but the mechanism has not been explained. The cost would be reimbursed to the athlete or an advance paid to him.
The SAI used to get the supplements cleared through a committee earlier and procured the substances from the market on its own.
An earlier claim that these substances used to be tested at the dope-testing laboratory has since been disputed.
The athletes and the federations had their own methods of procurement outside the “SAI quota”, as was evident in the recent investigations and depositions related to the anti-doping rule violation charges against six female athletes.
Government agencies normally do not get involved in approval or supply of supplements to athletes because of the fact that they are often contaminated with banned substances and may lead to a positive dope test.
A plea of “I didn't know” hardly ever helps the athlete in a hearing.
12 items approved
The SAI technical panel has already approved a list of 12 items for the supplements ‘menu', ranging from multivitamins, whey protein and anti-oxidants to creatine monohydrate and iron capsules.
The problem will come up when ‘sports scientists' determine manufacturers and their products through the medium of internet.
The final selection by an athlete, in consultation with the coach and another official, can also lead to a problem should a ‘positive' dope test occur later.
The efficacy of supplements has long been questioned by scientists and experts.
Athletes, who may be deficient in a particular substance, may benefit while others may not gain at all, research has shown.
Still, athletes prefer to opt for supplements.
“Dangerous drugs, such as designer steroids, are intentionally being sold as dietary supplements, and current law allows these products to get easily to market,” says ‘Supplement Safety Now', a public protection initiative in the US.
“The use of any supplement, traditional medicine, herbal, or any other nutritional product is at your own risk,” says the Drug Reference Online (DRO) on the UK Anti Doping website.
Similar warnings are issued time and again by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), international federations and all countries that have a well-established anti-doping system in place.
Regulatory norms
The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had announced last year, in the wake of the doping incident involving leading athletes, that it would be issuing regulatory norms for dietary supplements.
It said currently food supplements escaped regulatory scrutiny from both the drug regulatory agency and the FSAI.
Instead of leaving the responsibility of regulations to such agencies and to the athletes to carefully pick their supplements at their own risk, the SAI has intruded into a domain where it has little expertise.
