New low: WADA ranks India among top dope violators

An uptick in the number of offenders has taken India into the top-three of the world's biggest doping violators in a WADA report detailing the transgressions for the year 2019 with bodybuilding, weightlifting and athletics contributing majorly to the country's embarrassing record.

In the latest report published by the World Anti-Doping Agency, 152 (17 per cent of the world total) Anti-doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) were reported in India in 2019, leaving it third in the list with the maximum dope offenders coming from bodybuilding (57).

Among Olympic sports, weightlifting leads the way with 25 ADRVs, followed by athletics (20) and wrestling (10). Boxing and judo reported four ADRVs each. Four cricketers were also found to have committed ADRVs in 2019.

A lightweight in global sport, India is only behind Russia (167) and Italy (157), while Brazil (78) is at fourth and Iran (70) fifth.

An ADRV is reported after a final decision has been rendered and a sanction (a reprimand or period of ineligibility) imposed against the athlete following the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings.

Russia was banned from fielding its national team in Tokyo Olympics for not complying with international anti-doping rules.

The country now tops the violators' list, reporting more cases than from the previous report of 2018. It had gone down to seventh in the 2017, with 57 ADRVs.

In the previous WADA report meant for anti-doping violations in 2018, India was placed fourth with 107 ADRVs, behind Russia (144), Italy (132) and France (114).

Weightlifting (22) had produced the highest number of dope offenders in that report also, followed by athletics (16).

A total of 278,047 samples were collected by Anti-Doping Organisations worldwide in 2019, and subsequently, analysed by WADA-accredited laboratories. Of these samples, 2,701 (1 per cent) were reported as Adverse Analytical Findings.

Based on a compilation of the information received by WADA till January 31, 2021, 1,535 samples (57 per cent) were confirmed as ADRVs (sanctions), the world anti-doping watchdog said.

Among Olympic sports worldwide, athletics leads the number of dope offenders with 227 (18 percent), followed by weightlifting with 160. Bodybuilding leads overall with 272.