Thakur said this on the opening day of the ‘WADA Athlete Biological Passport Symposium – 2022’ which kicked off here.
“To ensure that our athletes are protected from inadvertent doping due to the consumption of nutritional supplements containing banned substances, NADA is working with the NFSU and FSSAI“, said Thakur.
The main objective of the third edition of the symposium is to strengthen anti-doping measures in the country, which was ranked third behind Russia and Italy in terms of doping violations reported by WADA in 2019.
The National doping control laboratory is in the process of setting up an Athlete Biological Passport Unit in India and Thakur said it will be a very important scientific tool in the fight against doping and related research not only detects but deters doping in sport.
“The symposium will prove to be an important milestone in our collective fight against doping and will also strengthen the anti-doping program in India,” Thakur said.
“The recently enacted National Anti-Doping Act 2022 is a manifestation of India’s strong commitment to clean sport at all levels in the country,” he added.
Over 200 participants from 56 countries, WADA officials, representatives and experts from different National Anti-Doping Organizations, Athlete Passport Management Units and WADA-accredited laboratories are attending the symposium.
Thakur further urged all participants to use this opportunity to equip themselves with the knowledge, tools, research and expertise that would enable them to “protect our athletes and the entire sports ecosystem from the threat of This symposium will enable us to strengthen the anti-doping program in India.”
According to the records, bodybuilding, weightlifting and athletics contribute the most to doping cases in India.
At the last Tokyo Olympics, India won a record seven medals, including a historic first gold medal in athletics by javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, but the sport also garnered infamy when the discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur has been suspended after testing positive for a banned substance.
She had finished sixth in the final after becoming the first Indian woman to clear the 65m mark.
The Commonwealth Games’ surge in Birmingham was also blighted after five athletes, including two from the para discipline, tested positive for banned substances.
