Cricketers on WADA radar
New Delhi, Oct. 2: The dope testing programme of next year’s cricket World Cup will fall under the World Anti-Doping Agency Code’s purview as the ICC has become fully compliant with it after accepting the contentious “whereabouts” clause, the global anti-doping watchdog said on Saturday.
“ICC is now fully WADA-compliant, including the ‘whereabouts’ clause and so the 2011 World Cup will be held under the Code,” WADA General Secretary David Howman said.
“We deal with only the ICC and not the BCCI so I won’t comment on them. It is for the ICC to deal with the BCCI. Since ICC is now WADA compliant, the testing programme of the 2011 World Cup will have to be under the WADA Code,” he said after addressing a press conference a day ahead of the launch of the Commonwealth Games.
BCCI and Indian cricketers were opposed to the whereabouts clause as they felt it was invasion of privacy and a threat to the players’ security.
Despite Indian athletes, particularly weightlifters, flunking dope tests often, Howman does not want the country to be painted in bad light.
“WADA is not that worried because I hope with NADA coming up, doping will be dealt with properly. But you need some time to see the results (doping reducing). NADA is doing a very good job,” he said.
“I met your Sports Minister (M.S. Gill). He looked very determined to deal with the doping issue. So I am hoping things will be better,” he added.
Howman refused to comment on Gill’s view that the International Weightlifting Federation was very harsh on India when it imposed a $5 lakh fine after six lifters tested positive in WADA tests last year.
“I don’t want to comment on that. Imposing sanctions on a country is the job of international federations. WADA has nothing to do with it,” he said.
The WADA top official is happy with the arrangements for the doping programme for the Commonwealth Games and said everything is in place. “There is no crisis in the doping programme in the Games,” he said.
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