NEW DELHI, Apr 13: World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) President Witold Banka has landed in the national capital for a high-profile visit that started with meeting top National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) officials here on Monday for “urgent and serious” discussions on protecting the “integrity of sport” in India.
Banka is scheduled to hold a press conference in Delhi on Thursday in which he is expected to address India’s poor doping numbers.
“Today in Delhi, I visited the National Anti Doping Agency, India and the National Dope Testing Laboratory. Urgent and serious discussions on the need to decisively strengthen anti-doping systems, confront persistent challenges, and ensure credible protection of the integrity of sport in India,” he posted on social media.
Last year, India became the country with the second worst record of doping cases in a 10-year global study of WADA.
Russia topped the list, followed by India and China, in the report.
“Countries with the most positive tests reported against Minors were (in descending order) Russia, India, and China. Countries with the most sanctioned Minors were Russia, India, and China,” the WADA said in that report.
Subsequently, the country also topped the list of highest number of dope violations for a third successive year.
India returned a positivity rate of 3.6 per cent, accounting for 260 Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF), the highest among all major countries.
Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has repeatedly promised an aggressive crackdown on doping, and while speaking in the Parliament recently he stated that agencies like the CBI are being involved for strengthening NADA’s intelligence and investigative infrastructure.
Earlier this year, India 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, two more than the African nation.
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. (PTI)
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