4 min readUpdated: Apr 16, 2026 09:34 PM IST
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has decided to collaborate with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take a ‘top to down’ approach to curb anti-doping activities in the nation as the Sports Ministry pushes for criminalization of suppliers of prohibited substances to athletes.
“The way to curb doping instances is by targeted testing. Athletes are the victims and we have to target the ones supplying these prohibited substances. Given the population of India, more than testing, we need to attack these supply chains that help in moving the prohibited substances,” Gunter Younger, Director of Intelligence and Investigations, WADA told the Indian Express on the sidelines of the Global Anti-Doping Intelligence and Investigations Network (GAIIN) Final Conference.
Currently, India is the country with the most number of dope offenders in the WADA list of suspended athletes from 2024. The nation has been a regular feature in the top three list pointing at a deep-rooted problem related to usage of prohibited substances and performance enhancing drugs.
“We know India has a problem with a large number of performance enhancing drugs and dope offences. But with ambitions to host major tournaments, it is not possible without the compliance of WADA,” said WADA president Witold Banka.
The collaboration with CBI is part of Operation Upstream, which has resulted in 250 raids, seizure of approximately “1.8 billion doses” of banned drugs that were prevented from entering the market, and closure of 88 illegal laboratories across 20 countries with the help of INTERPOL and EUROPOL.
More focus on intelligence gathering
Younger, who was part of the famous WADA commission that investigated the state-sponsored doping programme of Russia, said that more than testing athletes, it is important to gather intelligence. “Doping has become like organized crime now and the ones facilitating it are very sophisticated. In the majority of the cases, the athletes are the victims. That is why we are looking to shift away towards intelligence. This is the future, as the offenders are bypassing the rules via different methods and we need to attack them from different sides,” explained Younger.
While the method to go after the supply chain of the performance enhancing drugs instead of just the athletes sounds exciting, right now it faces certain hurdles in India with the lack of penal provisions for such activities being the main one. “I know doping or carrying prohibited substances are not legal crimes in India, but criminalization is the right way. Law enforcement can investigate only if it is criminalized. Right now, what we have learnt is that India is going to criminalize it,” said Younger.
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Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who was present in the first half of the conference, told media that the ministry is moving towards bringing provisions which will include the trafficking and administering of prohibited substances in the Bharat Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). “Doping is no longer individual conduct. It is an organised multinational enterprise. The threat of doping undermines sport as India becomes a global sporting hub. We are working on introducing criminal provisions for athlete support staff or other persons involved in trafficking and administering banned substances,” Mandaviya told the reporters.
Other hurdles that India faces in curbing doping activities are the lack of personnel at the National Anti-Doping Agency and lapse in procedures at the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL). One of the 29 WADA accredited labs in the world, NDTL was suspended in 2019 due to non-conformities with international standards.
However, on this current visit to the NDTL, the top brass of WADA has seen certain improvements.
“I know in the past NADA has been warned of getting more personnel and NDTL was suspended but things are much better now. India is a huge country and I think we need more and more people to take up these roles as a profession. But I am not worried about the situation of NDTL and NADA now as they are doing good and have been aspirational to work with us on a regular basis,” said Younger.
