Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has likened the 'Whereabouts' clause of the WADA Anti-Doping Code to an iron chain and also hit out at sportspersons who have criticised cricketers for not signing it.
"We never go out and preach other sports their code of conduct and that is what I expect from my respected colleagues from other sports too. At no point (do) I feel that we are doing more for our country than them or we are at a higher platform from them," the off spinner has written in his latest blog on bigadda.com.
"In a nutshell, this clause is like an iron chain around my valuable time which belongs to me, my family and my close ones," he says.
Reiterating once again that the clause, that requires players to disclose their whereabouts on each day for the next three months in advance, was an intrusion on privacy, the feisty bowler said he and other cricketers affected by the clause have been portrayed as villains in the media.
"It seems like everyone and anyone has a view on it and the majority blaming us for creating much ado about nothing. It has become such a huge crime, that the intellects from all walks of life have obliged us by making us realise how irresponsible we are as sportspersons and as citizens of this civilised world.
"The general outlook is that we are spoiled brats who want doping to continue in the chaste world of sports or hardly care about this serious issue," he says.
Harbhajan pointed out he has been dope-tested on a a minimum of 15 occasions in the past eight years and has always been co-operative.
"In the last eight years I have been tested at least 15 times (the recent one being the one in the World-T20 in England along with Dhoni) and every time I bowed gleefully to the demands of the circumstances," he explains.
