Unannounced testing, the NADA way

July 26, 2012 12:24 am | Updated 12:24 am IST - NEW DELHI:

The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has to complete a chore. It has to test all Olympic participants from India at least once before they compete in the London Games. At least that is what it had decided a few months ago.

The exercise is no different from the pre-departure testing of the pre-NADA regime.

However, by announcing in a section of the media that it had already done a few sample collections abroad through international agencies and it was planning to collect samples from the rest through various agencies, before the Games begin, the NADA has gone against the very grain of “no advance notice” testing.

The NADA has not just announced its plans for “unannounced testing”, it has also announced by name who all are yet to be tested, where they are going to be tested and by which agency.

A few months ago, the NADA had stated that the Olympic probables would be tested during March-April and June-July.

That in itself was unnecessary since out-of-competition testing has to retain its surprise element.

Some of the qualified sportspersons being stationed abroad, the NADA was handicapped in its operations.

It finally found a way out, though the method was always available to it for any out-of-competition testing.

It got in touch with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the London Organising Committee (LOCOG) to get some of the Indian competitors tested.

Co-ordination among various international agencies is part and parcel of the anti-doping system and routinely adopted by the authorities concerned.

The NADA could have, and might well have, sought the help of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) also in this task.

The IOC has the right to test any athlete anywhere in the world during the “Games period” which started on July 16, the day the ‘Games Village’ opened in London.

Out-of-competition testing, with just days to go for competitions to begin, is of no great significance in the anti-doping domain except as a measure to complete numbers.

International agencies do carry out such tests well after the teams have checked into the ‘Village’ and the odd ‘positive’ does emerge, but such instances are rare.

This is not the first time the NADA has announced its out-of-competition testing schedule in advance, defeating its very purpose.

All the more surprising in the latest announcement is the information that particular athletes are going to be tested once they arrive in London on behalf of the NADA.

Even when it “raided” the training bases for drugs in possession of athletes following the doping scandal involving six female athletes, the NADA had announced the measures in advance.

The NADA also announced in the media last year that it would be keeping a watch on airports, with the help of Customs authorities, to ensure that banned substances were not being imported.

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