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Testing at dope lab to resume soon

By K.P. Mohan

NEW DELHI AUG. 1. No dope-testing has been going on at the Dope Control Centre at the Nehru Stadium here for nearly two months since upgradation and auditing is in progress towards gaining the crucial ISO 17025 certification.

Testing would, however, be resumed soon, according to a Sports Authority of India (SAI) spokesman.

In the meantime, urine samples collected during the past two months are being stored under optimum temperatures for testing at a later date. Not many are, however, convinced that the tests would be completed on these samples.

The SAI laboratory is in the process of seeking accreditation from the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA). The ISO 17025 certification is a pre-requisite for seeking that accreditation. Once the ISO approval is gained, the lab will have to go through a WADA proficiency testing programme, for a period of 12 to 24 months, before the lab becomes eligible to be "considered for accreditation'' by WADA.

Attempts by the authorities to confuse the issue of `real' accreditation by WADA and a temporary accreditation for the limited purpose of the Afro-Asian Games at Hyderabad in October-November will only prove their ignorance. At the moment, it is not clear whether a temporary accreditation would be sought or whether samples would be sent to an accredited lab abroad, such as Penang, Malaysia, Bangkok or Thailand.

Since testing had been halted even as the SAI lab procured and installed new equipment and shifted its premises from one section of the Nehru Stadium to a more secure area, the teams that competed in international competitions in recent months were cleared without the mandatory dope tests and the `green signal'. These included the women's football team that took part in the Asian championship and the volleyball team that competed in the World Youth championship, both in Thailand, recently.

The Union Sports Ministry's primary concern being the damage to country's prestige in international competitions in case there were to be positives from the Indian sportspersons, the tests were till now done prior to departure of teams for such tournaments. Now that a few such competitions have already taken place, will there be any point in carrying out the tests on the stored samples? The Government's answer is `yes'.

The news that only five samples were collected at Hyderabad during the Federation Cup athletics meet should, however, cause concern. Shortage of dope-testing kits has been cited as the reason for such a small number of athletes being subjected to testing.

The Secretary of the Amateur Athletics Federation of India (AAFI) Lalit Bhanot, said on Friday that out of the 10 kits available, five were used at Chennai (during the circuit meet there) and the other five at Hyderabad.

Differing versions were available from SAI sources, however, one stating that there was no shortage of kits and the other confirming that about two weeks ago there indeeed was a shortage so much so that the All India Football Federation (AIFF) which also required the kits, to collect samples at the ongoing Federation Cup at Kolkota, was given only a curtailed number. Incidentally, the AIFF is planning to send the Fed Cup samples to Kuala Lumpur for testing.

Lack of follow-up action

Over the past five years, if the Indian dope-testing scene had raised doubts about its credibility it was only because of the lack of follow-up action. Thus, it is never the question of how many tests are being conducted that has mattered but how many `out of competition' testing is being done and how many `positives' are being reported and sanctioned.

A genuine effort at out of competition testing is yet to begin, while even some shut-out positive cases, ruled so by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) at the last National Games at Hyderabad in December, are being dragged on by a few federations, notably the AAFI and the boxing federation (IABF). Of course, the case of 19 positives from the 2001 Punjab National Games has been buried for good.

It is in this background that the recent e-mail of the Director of the accredited Tokyo dope control laboratory to his SAI lab counterpart, has to be viewed. The Japanese official has reportedly sought more transparency in the Indian lab's dealings following adverse media reports. He has also at the same time pointed out that the IOC and WADA should be keeping a watch over the happenings in India.

At a time when SAI is vigorously pursuing WADA accreditation, the Japanese letter, though perhaps unprecedented in the history of inter-laboratory dealings or IOC/WADA protocol, is a damning indictment of a system that still believes that pre-departure testing is ethical.

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