The Hindu : Sport : Regulatory wing of SAI recommended

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Regulatory wing of SAI recommended

K.P. Mohan

NEW DELHI: The one-man enquiry panel that went into the Monika Devi doping case has recommended, among other things, the setting up of a regulatory wing under the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to regulate various procedures involving sports and National federations.

The T. S. Krishna Murthy panel that submitted its report to the Union Sports Minister, M. S. Gill, on Friday, stated in its recommendations:

“My limited experience and knowledge gained in respect of certain sports tell me that activities of many of the sports federations needed to be regulated by uniform and transparent procedures especially in matters relating to election of office-bearers, selection of participants in international competition, organisation of coaching camps, selection of coaches and proper utilisation of funds granted from public exchequer.

“I would therefore suggest that there should be a regulatory wing under the Sports Authority of India to bring about uniform procedures in respect of certain areas of sports administration.

“The regulatory wing should be less bureaucratic and needs to be under the supervision of a council (either executive or consultative) constituted with members of internationally distinguished Indian sportspersons. “This council can be assisted by a small secretariat provided by SAI. In order to emphasise this aspect, the Government of India should consider restructuring the Sports Authority of India as Sports Development and Regulatory Authority of India.”

Mr. Krishna Murthy has brought in these recommendations under “other suggestions to improve the testing and its integrity and promptness to avoid such lapses in future.”

A proposal to have a sports regulatory authority, incorporated in the draft National Sports Policy, formulated by the ministry, under the previous Sports Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, met with stiff resistance from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the National federations.

The draft has been put in cold storage since Mr. Aiyar was shifted from the Sports Ministry.

With Mr. Gill announcing that his ministry would take early action on the findings and recommendations of the Krishna Murthy panel, observers feel another attempt to bring in a sports regulatory authority was on the anvil.

The ministry and the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL), which is expecting accreditation by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) very soon, will, however, find it difficult to follow up on another suggestion made by Mr. Krishna Murthy.

This relates to the reporting by the laboratory on “suspicious cases”. The Monika Devi dope testing report on her June 6 sample was apparently delayed because of “inconclusive” findings of the laboratory.

Inform the athlete

Mr. Krishna Murthy has stated: “I would therefore conclude that the existing practice of keeping the communication of test result in suspense on the ground of suspicion and requiring further detailed test should be stopped forthwith and even in such cases the athlete should be informed of the actual state of affairs so that the athlete is in a position to exercise the rights available under the WADA code which includes the right to ask for a ‘B’ sample test.”

The WADA technical document TD2004EAAS, which is a mandatory document in reporting of endogenous steroids, states: “The results of the IRMS analysis and/or of the steroid profile measured by GC/MS shall be used to draw conclusions as to whether a doping violation may have been committed. “If the IRMS study does not indicate exogenous administration, the result should be reported as “inconclusive” and if necessary further longitudinal studies performed.”

A laboratory cannot report a “positive”, especially in the case of an endogenous steroid or its precursors or metabolites, without getting absolute confirmation, through a variety of tests and analysis if necessary.

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