Full-fledged doping lab proposed

Qaiser Mohammad Ali and T.L. Garg

The Sports Authority of India proposes to set up a doping laboratory of international standards at a cost of Rs 20 million, an SAI official has said.

"The proposal was first made two years ago but got stuck in the finance department of the SAI. It was forwarded to the Sports Ministry for approval two months ago," the official told Indo-Asian News Service, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The proposal assumes significance in the light of observations made by the Delhi High Court on Tuesday, when it asked the government to take "immediate remedial measures" to control a major doping scandal that has allegedly hit Indian sport.

The court also ordered the establishment of a high-level committee to examine, among other things, the "desirability of having a fully-equipped laboratory which will meet international standards" to conduct dope tests on Indian sportspersons.

"The committee shall examine as to how foolproof methods can be evolved to see that sportspersons and athletes do not use prohibited drugs and if they are found to be using such drugs, the test to be performed to find out about such users," the court said.

Under the SAI proposal, a team of German scientists would be invited to set up the dope testing facility in India.

However, it is learnt that even if the finance ministry clears the proposal immediately, it would not be possible to set up the facility in time for the inaugural Afro-Asian Games, to be conducted in Delhi from November 3-11.

Thus, the mandatory dope testing of all medal winners in the eight disciplines at the Games would have to be conducted outside the country. Currently, the SAI's dope testing laboratory is manned by three scientists, one of whom is a zoologist by training.

The high court said the committee would also examine the possibility of "recommending suitable action against those who are found to be using prohibited drugs," as also the action to be taken against the national sports federations if they do not act on these reports.

The committee, which will be headed by the secretary (sports) in the ministry of human resource development, has to submit its report by August 29. A representative each of the SAI and the Indian Olympic Association will be the other members of the committee.

The court orders came on a public suit filed by the Health Fitness Trust and sportswoman Sunita Godara, alleging that doping was rampant in Indian sport, as was evident from the results of a large number of tests conducted by the SAI.

At the last hearing of the case, the court had directed the SAI to submit the names of 257 sportspersons who had tested positive for banned substances in the last decade.

The SAI submitted the list in a sealed envelope on Tuesday and the court directed that it be kept in the custody of the registrar.

The SAI is believed to have cited a number of reasons for keeping the list confidential. It says the drug tests are not definitive as its dope control laboratory is not accredited to the International Olympic Committee. It has said that its laboratory lacked equipment to confirm the initial results - a mandatory requirement of the IOC - and acquired this only in 1999.

It also said that the samples it received ran the risk of contamination since they were often sent from far off places and took a long time to reach the laboratory in New Delhi.

The SAI, meanwhile, has declined comment on reports that a number of Indian sportspersons are planning to sue the organization for wrongly including their names in the list of those who had tested positive.

Media reports on Wednesday quoted sprinter P T Usha and middle-distance runner Jyotirmoyee Sikdar as saying that they would sue the SAI for including their names in the list.

Indo-Asian News Service