Indian Weightlifting Federation set stricter anti-doping rules to shortlist team for World Championships

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Apprehensive about dope positive cases ahead of the December 6 to 15 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) sanctioned World Championships in Manama, Bahrain, the Indian Weightlifting Federation supports lifters from the government run National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) scheme and not those training elsewhere.

Reason: Weightlifters at the government run NCOE in the country are constantly under the watch of National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) and are regularly subject to out-of-competition dope tests.

"Doping is a big use in weightlifting in the country," Sahdev Yadav, president of the Indian weightlifting body explained. "We are making efforts to check on dope cheats and have stricter anti-doping policies to select the national team."

One of the anti-doping rules to compete at the global competition in December sanctioned by the international body is to furnish whereabouts details three months prior to the world competition.

"Whereabouts information, including home address and training location shall be provided to IWF (International Weightlifting Federation) no later than three months prior to each IWF event," is one of the mandatory clauses to compete at the world meet, Yadav said.

"In case the member federation fails to provide details of the respective athlete he or she will automatically be ineligible to compete from the IWF competition."

The athletes will be included in the IWF general registered testing pool, Yadav added. While international level weightlifters included in the Registered Testing Pool have to provide annual whereabouts to the world body.

To avoid Indian team members failing dope tests at international meets and avoid embarrassment, the national federation has laid down stricter rules to select the national team for Bahrain.

"It's also mandatory for all the members of the national team to have at least one random dope test in the two months before competing at the World Weightlifting Championships," Yadav added.

The national weightlifting body hinted that weightlifters training outside the NCOE are not regularly subject to out of competition dope tests.

Despite stricter rules and close watch by the national federation several weightlifters fail dope tests at the domestic level. Last year promising weightlifter Anjali Patel, winner of youth national title in women's 45kg was among several lifters who failed dope tests for performance enhancing drugs and faced sanctions by NADA (National Anti Doping Agency).

The national federation also banned coaches whose athletes, some of them minor, failed dope tests at the last edition of national meet to deter dope cheats in the country.

Weightlifters shortlisted for the 2024 world meet will attend one month camp before the team departure for the global competition in Bahrain, Yadav said. Preference being given to weightlifters from NCOE for world meet hasn't gone well with some of the coaches.

Two teenage weightlifters-aged 17 and 15 from Maharashtra's NCOE in Aurangabad have been shortlisted for the world meet in Bahrain.

Lifters particularly from Maharashtra competing at world meet have a big advantage of getting state awards and are also eligible for sports quota jobs in the state, one of the weightlifting coaches said.

"Federation's policy to check on dope cheats is good, but several lifters training at different coaching centers will never get a chance to showcase their potential at the world level," the senior weightlifting coach added.

Yadav asserted the federation has to follow the anti-doping policy of the world body.
"If any weightlifter is good and wants to compete at international meets then he or she should join NCOE as we can keep a close watch," Yadav explained.