The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has taken exception to National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) chairman Navin Agarwal’s remarks that it does not comply with the anti-doping rules and is not “transparent.”
Agarwal had observed on May 24 that, “I don’t see any reason why they should be averse to NADA doing the testing. There is no transparency in what the BCCI does. I am not disputing (BCCI doing random testing) but it is not covered as per the rules prevalent in the country.”
The Board’s General Manager, Administration and Game Development, Prof. Ratnakar Shetty, on Saturday refuted Agarwal’s statement. In a communication to Sportstar , Prof. Shetty said, “The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is fully World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) compliant and has adopted the anti-doping rules laid down by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which has been a WADA-signatory since 2006. The BCCI Anti-Doping Code is updated annually and can be found on the BCCI as well as IPL websites.”
‘Clear prohibitions and controls’
Prof Shetty emphasised, “The BCCI, being the governing body for all cricket in India, has adopted certain rules to impose clear prohibitions and controls as part of BCCI’s continuing effort to: 1) Maintain the integrity of the sport of cricket; 2) To protect the health and rights of all the participants in the sport of cricket; 3) To keep the sport of cricket free from doping.”
According to Prof Shetty, “The BCCI also files Whereabouts Information of the top 11 cricketers in the country based on the latest ICC player rankings. The whereabouts information is submitted on WADA’s Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS). “
The BCCI, he informed, had commenced testing, “At the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 while testing at other domestic tournaments viz. Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, etc. started during season 2012-13. Since then, the BCCI has been collecting 200-250 urine samples each season both In-Competition as well as Out-of-Competition. As per the WADA 2013 and 2015 Anti-Doping Testing Figures documents, BCCI conducts the maximum number of tests amongst all the cricket nations.”
Prof Shetty concluded, “A lot of significance is laid on the education program for cricketers. Since 2010, BCCI has been conducting pre-season Anti-doping Education Programs for all the Junior & Senior (Men & Women) cricketers and team support staff of all the State Cricket Associations. More than 3000 cricketers attend the education workshops each season. BCCI also conducts an anti-doping education workshop for the franchise medical teams prior to the start of every IPL season.”
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