BCCI's Ratnakar Shetty responds to NADA's doping accusations

Indian cricket is seldom in controversies when it comes to the use of banned substance and doping. This cricket crazy country worships the national players and the players know it as well. All the players have a status equivalent to national heroes and always look to set an example for the younger generations with their game and conduct.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been questioned for its doping policies. However, Ratnakar Shetty, the Board’s general manager has rubbished the claims. He was of the opinion that BCCI follows the regulations set by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The BCCI was accused of not being transparent enough and the doping tests were unsupervised. They were accused by Navin Agarwal, the chief of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).

Shetty clear’s the air

Shetty was clear as water while stating that the BCCI leaves no page unturned when it comes to doping. He said they follow the rules and regulations and take doping very seriously.  “The BCCI anti-doping code is updated annually and can be found on the BCCI as well as IPL websites.”

He also said that they have adopted certain rules and go by them strictly. He also mentioned that the BCCI leaves no stone unturned in protecting the “integrity of the sport”.

“The BCCI has adopted certain rules to impose prohibitions and controls to maintain the integrity of the sport, to protect the health and rights of all the participants in cricket and to keep the sport of cricket free from doping,” explained Shetty.

He also said that they have been conduction pre-season anti-doping lessons for the players and also the supporting staff, “Since 2010, BCCI has been conducting pre-season anti-doping education programmes for cricketers and support staff of state associations.”

NADA responds to BCCI

Agarwal said that he is not happy with BCCI doing the dope tests themselves. And also said that BCCI is answerable to NADA as they are responsible for all anti-doping exercise in the country.

The chief of NADA said, “It is not an ideal situation when a federation which selects players also does dope tests on them. The whole process becomes non-transparent and comes under a cloud.Many questions arise: Are they picking and choosing players to test? Are they testing the key players? We have issues with that.”

“How can BCCI say they are not answerable to NADA? We are authorised to carry out anti-doping exercise in the country and with BCCI being a national federation will have to accept our authority,” he concluded.