NEW DELHI: On a day when India continued to top the Athletics Integrity Unit’s (AIU) global list of doping offenders, the Sports Ministry confirmed that the National Anti-Doping Bill will be tabled in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament.In the AIU list, India accounted for 162 drug users, ahead of Kenya (148) and Russia (60). It includes individuals serving bans for doping offenses pursuant to a positive test result for a prohibited substance and/or tampering, evading a test, trafficking, or losing their whereabouts.Under the amended bill, trafficking and distributing banned substances to athletes would be punishable by five years in prison.“Until now, athletes have been punished for such violations.
They will get suspended or banned. “But we need to go after those who supply these materials, including medical practitioners,” a ministry official said.The public consultation period for the amended bill ended on 18 June. Parliament’s seasonal session begins on July 20.The amendment is similar to the amendment proposed in 2018. At that time, a sentence of four years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2 lakh was sought for organized crime gangs and anyone found guilty of supplying banned substances to athletes.
However, the provisions were dropped from the bill that was eventually passed in 2022 and were amended again last year as the government sided with the idea of “preventive legislation, rather than criminal legislation.”India has also topped the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) global list for the past three years.