India has surpassed Kenya to become the country with the highest number of suspended athletes for doping violations, prompting the Athletics Federation of India to implement stricter anti-doping measures.
India has surpassed Kenya to top the Athletics Integrity Unit's (AIU) list of ineligible persons due to doping violations with 148 suspended track and field athletes, which is two more than the African nation.
The latest updated list is for the period up to April 1 this year. Russia took the third spot with 66 suspended athletes.
Prominent Indian athletes in the list include women's 100m national record holder Dutee Chand, who has been serving a four-year suspension since December 2022, middle distance runner Parvej Khan, whose six-year suspension will run till July 2030, and Tamil Nadu sprinter Sekar Dhanalakshmi who was suspended for eight years in 2025.
The list includes persons serving a period of ineligibility as a result of national level cases and decisions.
It also includes persons who have committed non-doping violations such as tampering, evading testing, trafficking, or missing whereabouts, which carry the same penalties as a doping offence.
The Athletics Integrity Unit is an independent anti-doping watchdog established by the World Athletics. It has jurisdiction over international level athletes and their support persons.
In order to tackle the doping menace, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has taken up strict measures, including tracking down those centres in the country which are linked to the menace.
Asserting that trainers also play a big role in doping of their wards, the AFI has also asked all the coaches to register with it. Unregistered coaches will be blacklisted, and their trainees will be deemed ineligible for national awards.
After the 2024 Paris Olympics, the AFI has decentralised the national camps. Currently, the AFI is only conducting national camps for relay teams.
All other elite athletes have chosen private organisations like Reliance, JSW, Tatas or government departments like Army, and Navy for training.