13-Oct-2022: Role and development of Athlete Biological Passport programme highlighted at the 3rd edition of the WADA Athlete Biological Passport Symposium being held in New Delhi

National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) & National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) India are hosting the 3rd edition of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) Symposium from October 12 to 14, 2022 at The Ashok, New Delhi, India. During the discussion Associate Director ABP, WADA, Dr. Reid Aikin stated the status of ABP in 2022. He discussed the role of ABP, how the ABP units are working, what are the developments under progress in athlete passport program and how the scenario of ABP has changed since 2018 to till date.

Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), a powerful anti-doping tool that monitors selected biological variables over time to reveal the effects of doping rather than attempting to detect the doping substance or method itself. It works against doping through enhanced target testing and analysis, investigations, deterrence, and as indirect evidence for use of prohibited methods or substances.

Round table discussion about recent trends, successes and challenges of ABP program was held amongst the galaxy of ABP experts and focused on the need to implement the ABP program. Discussions on ABP included need to create a robust legal framework. The major challenges elaborated were resources, funding and reactive follow up testing. The future endeavours of ABP program were also discussed.

An important point of discussion was the likely medical conditions noticed while handling athlete biological passports and the recommendations to be adopted when such cases are reported.

Two case studies were also discussed for building the passport case in stepwise manner.

Another interesting topic was  the reported cases of sample swapping and how to handle these cases using new tools.

New Blood Steroid Markers and their need of implementation were explained during discussions.

The symposium brought together the athlete biological passport experts across the world to deliberate upon recent trends, successes and challenges with the ABP, evolving strategic testing for the ABP and working towards the detection and eradication of doping in sports through APMUs.

The first WADA ABP Symposium was hosted by the Anti-Doping Lab Qatar (ADLQ) in November 2015, in Doha, Qatar. The second WADA ABP Symposium was organized by the Italian Federation of Sports Medicine (FMSI) and was held from 5-7 November 2018, in Rome, Italy.

In the 3rd edition being  held in India, over Two hundred participants from 56 Countries including WADA Officials, representatives and Experts from National Anti-Doping Organizations, Athlete Passport Management Units (APMUs) and WADA Accredited Laboratories are participating in the Symposium.

Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports inaugurated the WADA Athlete Biological Passport Symposium 2022 at The Ashok, New Delhi, jointly organised by NADA and NDTL India. Ms. Sujata Chaturvedi, Secretary (Sports), Government of India, Dr. Reid Aikin, Associate Director ABP, WADA, Mr. Kazuhiro Hayashi, Director, Asia/ Oceania, WADA, Dr. Norbert Baume, Senior Manager ABP, WADA, Ms. Ritu Sain, DG & CEO, NADA India and Dr. PL Sahu, Director, NDTL India were present for the ceremony.

Mr. Anurag Thakur in his special address during the inaugural session, highlighted India’s vision and commitment for clean sports. Hosting the ABP symposium demonstrates India’s capabilities and willingness to contribute towards promoting dope free sports in a bigger way. The event is special for India as the country is celebrating 75 years of independence – Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Ms. Sujata Chaturvedi presented India’s efforts to strengthen the sporting ecosystem, infrastructure and opportunities. She appreciated the key role that NADA India is playing towards ensuring Fair Play. The symposium on the ABP theme is instrumental in equipping anti-doping community with scientific tools to deter doping.

7-Apr-2022: Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports releases India’s contribution of USD 72,124  to UNESCO Fund for Elimination of Doping in Sport in 2022

As per the resolution of 7COP held at Paris, 29-31 September, 2019, the State Parties had agreed for 1% of the contribution of the regular budget of respective nation to UNESCO towards the Fund for the Elimination of Doping in Sport. Pursuant to the commitment and Resolution 8CP/14 of Eighth Session of the Conference of Parties (COP8) held at UNESCO Hqrs, Paris, from 26 to 28 October, 2021, the Government of India, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has released an enhanced contribution of India to UNESCO Fund for Elimination of Doping in Sport to twice the assessed value i.e. USD 72,124 in 2022. First time in 2021, Government of India, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports made contribution of USD 28172 towards the UNESCO Fund on the basis of request received from UNESCO.

In the background, Copenhagen Declaration on Anti-Doping in Sport was agreed to by the Government of India in March, 2003, which was the political document through which Governments signaled their intention to formally recognize and implement the World Anti-Doping Code brought out by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).  This was the first step towards the preparation of the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport. India is a signatory to the International Convention Against Doping in Sport, also known as the “UNESCO Anti-Doping Convention”, which was ratified by India on 07 November 2007. The purpose of the Convention is to promote the prevention of and the fight against doping in sports, with a view to its elimination. The National Anti-Doping Agency, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Youth Affairs, is responsible for adopting, implementing and enforcing anti-doping programmes in India. In the Asia-Oceania region, there are a total of 55 member countries (40 in Asia and 15 in Oceania), who are signatories to the Convention.

UNESCO has conveyed their thanks and appreciated the Government of India’s ongoing contribution towards the Fund and commitment to the fight against doping in sport, notably playing a key role in the Convention’s governance as member of the Fund’s Approval Committee for 2022-2023. This contribution, doubling the amount of the minimum 1% contribution, will be included in the certified financial statement of the Fund, which will be presented to COP9, States Parties’ contributions support the implementation of the Fund’s Operational Strategy 2020-2025.

17-Dec-2020: India strengthens its commitment to Clean Sport, contributes USD 1 million to WADA for scientific research

Taking a step further to ensure an atmosphere of Clean Sport globally, India has pledged a sum of USD 1 million to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) towards the global agency’s scientific research budget, which will allow WADA to develop innovative anti-doping testing and detection methods. The money will also be used to further strengthen WADA’s independent Investigations and Intelligence Department.

India’s contribution of USD 1 million is the highest among contributions made by other world governments, including China, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The total contribution of all member nations will be matched by an equal sum by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to create a corpus of USD 10 million. The decision to build this corpus was made at WADA’s Fifth World Conference on Doping in Sport held in Katowice, Poland in 2019. This contribution is over and above the annual contribution made to WADA’s core budget by India.

Writing to WADA President Witold Banka about the contribution, Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri Kiren Rijiju said, “I am happy to share with you that the Government of India is pledging a “one-off” financial support of USD 1 million to this WADA Fund for scientific R&D and (I&I) with the hope that this contribution from India will boost the efforts to achieve the target of USD 10 million for this Fund.” In a previous meeting with the WADA President, held on September 8, 2020, through video conference, Shri Rijiju had stressed on the need for Clean Sport and the Indian Government’s commitment to strengthen the anti-doping programme globally. He had also assured India’s support to WADA in the form of scientific expertise and resources.

Lauding the co-operation of member countries, WADA President Witold Banka said in a press release, “This is a massive boost for WADA and for Clean Sport. The agency is grateful to the Government of China, Egypt, India and Saudi Arabia for supporting the protection of sport in this way. These generous contributions can be seen as a strong commitment from these nations and will be put to good use enhancing scientific research, as well as the work of WADA’s independent (I&I) department. Both areas have delivered significant achievements in recent years and these additional resources will contribute greatly towards WADA’s mission for doping-free sport.”