Indian athletes must prove that they don’t have Covid-19 symptoms before taking dope test: Report

Indian athletes will have to give an undertaking that they do not have any symptoms of Covid-19 before getting tested by the National Anti-Doping Agency for performance-enhancing drugs, The Indian Express reported on Saturday. The doping control officer will also have to maintain a distance of two yards when the athletes go through the testing guidelines before handing over their urine samples.

Nada’s activity of checking if athletes have taken performance-enhancing drugs have come to a halt since the outbreak of coronavirus. Now, the national anti-doping body plans to test athletes to ensure that they have not flouted rules during the lockdown period.

Nada has listed out various guidelines based on the Standard Operating Procedure set up by the health ministry and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Navin Agarwal, the director-general of Nada, in his proposal to the sports ministry for restarting dope tests on athletes, said that officer on duty and the athlete have to prove that they are asymptomatic.

“The doping control officer will have to wear complete Personal Protective Equipment. The apparatus needed for collecting samples, including the container, and all the forms will first have to be sanitised. We have to ensure the health and safety of both, the athlete as well as our dope control officer, is not compromised,” Agarwal told The Indian Express.

The report stated that are concerns about maintaining physical distancing between the athletes and the anti-doping officers while collecting the samples.

“The athlete and the officer will have to maintain a distance of two yards during sample collection,” Agarwal said.

Around 100-odd athletes camped at the National Institute of Sport in Patiala and SAI’s Bengaluru campus have resumed training in recent weeks with lockdown restrictions being eased out. There are also question marks over some of the athletes consuming PEDs, considering Nada being inactive in recent months.

“For us, the main issue is the logistical part, to get the inter-state passes, permissions from local authorities, and such. Once we get the go-ahead from them, as well as the ministry, we will resume our activities,” Agarwal added.