NADA chief bats for ‘no needle policy’

While India did well at the Commonwealth Games (CWG), in Gold Coast, two of its athletes, race walker K.T. Irfan and triple jumper V. Rakesh Babu, were ordered to return home for breaching the event’s strict 'no needle policy'.

‘No-needle policy’ is not a requirement of WADA, but its Indian affiliate, NADA, would want it to be used in domestic events, said chief Navin Agarwal.

‘No-needle policy’ is not a requirement of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), but its Indian affiliate, NADA, would want it to be used in domestic events, said chief Navin Agarwal.

“Though it is not a WADA requirement, we support the no-needle policy. We have zero tolerance for doping, and implementing ‘no-needle policy’ would be another step towards preventing doping,” Agarwal said, on Friday.

“Having said that, I am not too sure on how it could be implemented, in domestic events, in India. Nontheless, we would encourage the national sports federations to do so,” he added.

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While India did well at the Commonwealth Games (CWG), in Gold Coast, two of its athletes, race walker K.T. Irfan and triple jumper V. Rakesh Babu, were ordered to return home for breaching the event’s strict 'no needle policy'.

The embarrassment came after the Indian contingent escaped unscathed when a needle was found outside a boxer’s room. At that time the CGF had merely issued a reprimand to India for not disposing of the syringe, as prescribed, clearing the country of any declaration norm violations.

Even Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President, Narinder Batra, had batted for no-needle policy to be implemented in national camps also.