National Inter-State Athletics 2024: 'Dope Offenders and Their Coaches Will Have to Pay Price,' Says Adille Sumariwalla

National Inter-State Athletics 2024: Adille Sumariwalla, president of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) said the athletics body has been working constantly against the growing number of doping cases in the country.

With the Olympics closing in, some athletes have been in a rush to make the cut for Paris. Summariwalla, in a press conference ahead of the National Inter-State Athletics Championships 2024 on Wednesday, stated that even coaches of athletes getting caught for doping would be penalised.

"Athletes who get caught for dope, their coaches will also be penalized. And in line with that, every single coach will have to be registered. And when the athlete sends their entry, they will have to declare their coach. So that we are very clear at the competition, who is the coach of that athlete," he said.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) released a report in 2022 that put India on top of the list of dope-positive cases in the world. India's National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) tested 3865 samples between January 1-December 31, 2022 out of which 125 - or 3.2% - returned positive.

The doping scene in the country only seems to have gotten worse over time. In April 2024, news broke out about athletes using substances that the World Anti-Doping Agency says is prohibited at all times. Further, the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), brought out a list around the same time, which stated names of athletes who were suspended provisionally for apparent anti-doping violation.

The list included young 3000m steeple chaser Mohammed Nur Hasan, Murali Gavit, who is a 2019 Asian 10,000m silver medallist, cross-country National men's champion Hemraj Gurjar and women's silver medallist Anjali Kumari. Moreover, leading shot putter Karanveer Singh was punished with a four-year ban by the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel earlier this year.

Summariwalla added that the AFI is trying to upgrade and constantly putting in efforts to improve the knowledge of their coaches as well. He said that Radhakrishnan Nair, their chief coach, has been working on that area.

The AFI also has a separate education unit in place to educate the coaches. "We are doing everything to improve their knowledge, make them understand that overtraining is bad, early specialization is bad, doping is bad, etc. And after all of that, if they still decide to choose the wrong path, they will have to pay the price for it," Sumariwalla stated.

In order to fight hard against the dope offenders, AFI president Adille Sumariwalla also said that they have been working closely with bodies like NADA, AIU, the government, and SAI. The aim is to try and curb the use of forbidden substances.

Further, Sumariwalla went on to add that the AFI already has a committee in place to look at what steps can be taken next. He also stated that they are the first federation to have had a zero tolerance to doping and a no needle policy in place, showing their efforts to fight against doping and offenders in the country.

"We were the first to have a zero tolerance to doping. We were the first federation to have a no needle policy. We are the first federation to punish coach offenders. We will continue this fight and we will continue to do what we have to do," he concluded