Reviewing the anti-doping policy of India: Missing the wood for the trees?

Abstract

Background

India notified the National Anti-Doping Act (the Act) on 12 August 2022. Through this legislation, India appears to reiterate its commitment to compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code (the WADA Code). However, the reality of doping in Indian sports is far from ideal. India ranks second globally in terms of Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs). The question then is, what flaws existed in the pre-Act anti-doping policies? Further, how far has the developing country narrative of India impacted these policies? Finally, to what extent does the Act address the existing gaps in India’s anti-doping policy? The article addresses these questions to evaluate the necessity of the Act.

Method

The article reviews the existing literature on India’s anti-doping policy. The review includes government status reports, the National Anti-Doping Agency’s (NADA’s) decisions and WADA’s ADRVs report.

Result

These documents establish that the pre-Act anti-doping policy of India had failed to stem the incidents of doping within Indian sports.

Conclusion

The Act is a flawed piece of legislation. Consequently, India’s anti-doping policy is unlikely to be impacted, though further quantitative research in the future is needed to evaluate the Act.

Keywords:

• Doping
• India
• anti-Doping
• WADA code
• nADA

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.