The great Indian dope trick: Athletes are a step ahead of the watchdogs

True, there has been more testing of athletes since 2009 (the NADA website has details), and over 500 guilty athletes have been identified and penalised. But that’s pretty much all NADA has succeeded in doing. Also, these tests have primarily been conducted at the top level – at national meets. Very little lower down the pecking order.

I am a cynic when people talk about dope-free sport, simply because I believe more athletes get away than are caught. The dopers are a step ahead of the watchdogs and, therefore, the level playing field, a dope-free world promises doesn’t really exist. But even within the current paradigm, finding guilty athletes is the less important part of the job – the more crucial one is preventing the use of banned substances. Strike at the roots. One of NADA’s responsibilities is to create awareness, to educate athletes, especially the young ones.

That these programmes are not enough has been more than apparent for the longest time. Akhil Kumar, the boxing hero, feels that the only option is that athletes must educate themselves – or risk being caught in a crucial meet. Conversations with athletes will also convince you that most of them know very little about what’s right and what’s wrong. But, and this is the crux of the problem, do the athletes want to be educated? Indeed, are they as innocent as they’d like us to believe?

It is an age-old problem in Indian sport, where most athletes – apart from in cricket and some elite sports – are not in it for an Olympic medal or great glory. Most of them come from poor backgrounds and the reason for taking up sports is to become a national-level athlete and get a job. That’s it. So blame NADA for falling short of expectations, but in the current sporting environment, there may not be a ready solution to the issue of doping even if NADA gets its act right.

The author is Senior Editor, Wisden India.