The Hindu : Sport / Generalia : `Positives' going unpunished not a positive sign

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004

Sport

Sport - Generalia

`Positives' going unpunished not a positive sign

By K. P. Mohan

NEW DELHI, JUNE 28. Potrebenko was brought in as `recovery expert' after Dr. Boyko was packed off post-Sydney Olympics. Following the Hyderabad National Games doping controversy, the Sports Ministry was wary of renewing his contract for the current year. But later, a panel headed by the SAI Director-General approved his appointment along with that of a few coaches from Ukraine.

Potrebenko's qualification as a doctor is not known to the authorities. Yet, he has been prescribing medicines. He does not have the necessary permission from the Medical Council of India (MCI) to practise medicine in this country. On enquiry from The Hindu, the Union Health Ministry has confirmed this aspect.

If he does not have the permission, how has Potrebenko been prescribing medicines? Is there a record of all the medicines he or any other foreign expert might have prescribed to the athletes during the past two years or six years? When asked by Sushil Salwan who formed the single-member enquiry commission appointed by the athletics federation to look into the Sunita Rani doping controversy, the foreign expert had pointed out, according to Mr. Salwan, that he was only giving those medicines that were being supplied by the SAI.

Who is paying for the steroids and other medicines? Will the Government look into the dope conduit that stretches from Ukraine to India, through coaches, foreign and Indian, and athletes, who make yearly trips to Kiev and other centres in Ukraine under Government expenditure?

The `doping chart' has thrown up many such questions. The wrong use of the SAI dope control laboratory has come into focus once again. Many of the `positives' go unpunished and though the SAI has a responsibility to ensure that `positives' are sanctioned, it conveniently forgets a majority of the cases.

The Government has belatedly woken up to the fact that out-of-competition testing is the base on which dope-control can take place, but there is no attempt to make the federations accountable. The IOA is ever willing to lead the chorus of their autonomy being eroded.

The federations hush up most positive cases. The Sports Minister admitted in Parliament last year that there were 150 positives the preceding three years. And hardly 30 per cent of them have been sanctioned. The IOA has conveniently put a lid on at least 19 cases that came up at the 2001 National Games in Punjab. The Indian Hockey Federaion (IHF) is not even prepared to admit that there was a positive test on Punjab player Tejbir Singh recently.

In short, our record in anti-doping measures is dismal. No wonder, India has not yet signed the World Anti Doping Code. Nor is there any news about the proposed National Anti Doping Agency. Without signing the Code, India will not be able to bid for the Olympics. Any attempt to ignore the latest `chart' episode will prove suicidal in the long run.

If unsigned ledgers and calendars are being used in the BALCO case by investigators and prosecutors in the U.S. to unearth the biggest doping scandal since the fall of the Berlin Wall, nothing should prevent the Sports Ministry from calling for expert opinion on the `doping chart', not to mention holding yet another enquiry.

(Concluded)

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