NEW DELHI: World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) looks in no mood to let the Indian cricket board (BCCI) off the hook on the issue of dope testing of Indian cricketers.
In a fresh development, Wada has plainly rejected BCCI’s contention that India’s anti-doping body (Nada) has no jurisdiction to conduct dope tests on cricketers since the board is not a national sports federation (NSF) and its present anti-doping system – aligned with the world body, ICC – is robust enough.
Wada, in an email response sent to TOI on Thursday, has categorically stated that Nada indeed has the “testing authority” over the country’s athletes, including cricketers. “Pursuant to the World Anti-Doping Code, Nada India has testing authority over athletes who are nationals, residents, licence-holders or members of sport organisations in India or who are present in India,” Maggie Durand, coordinator, Wada’s media relations and communications, said.
Wada’s reply is self-explanatory, since all Indian cricketers are citizens of this country and they are the members (contracted) of the BCCI, which is a registered sports body under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. Wada’s response also rejects another of BCCI’s argument that it’s an autonomous body affiliated to the ICC and is only required to operate within the rules and regulations of the world body.
However, Wada’s latest communication indicates that it’s not buying into the BCCI’s argument. “BCCI has prevented Nada India from conducting testing on athletes from the sport of cricket. Wada is currently addressing this issue with the relevant Anti-Doping Organisations within its Compliance Monitoring Program,” Durand says in the email.
Wada’s reply came in response to TOI’s specific queries regarding BCCI’s recent communication to the sports ministry, Wada and Nada, where the board contended that it sends all its sample to the same Wada-accredited laboratory – NDTL (National Dope-Testing Laboratory) – as Nada, but through a private collection agency ‘International Dope Testing and Management’ (IDTM), which is engaged by ICC.
However, it is learnt that the sports ministry has written to Wada on the issue. “The ministry plans to build more pressure on BCCI through Wada, bringing ICC into picture. The matter needs to be resolved between Wada and ICC,” the source added.