NEW DELHI: In a big blow to India’s fight against the doping menace, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) on Friday suspended the accreditation of the country’s National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) for six months, starting August 20, with the 2020 Tokyo Olympic less than a year away. The suspension prohibits the NDTL from carrying out any anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples, until February 20, 2020 when the suspension will be lifted only after the lab conforms to Wada’s testing standards. The National Anti-Doping Agency (Nada) can still collect samples, but will have to get them tested by a Wada-accredited laboratory outside India. According to Nada sources, it could possibly tie up with the Bangkok lab, keeping the cost effectiveness in mind.

“This suspension has been imposed due to non-conformities with the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL) as identified during a Wada site visit,” Wada said in a statement. “During the period of suspension, samples that have not yet been analysed by the NDTL; samples currently undergoing a confirmation procedure; and any samples for which an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) has been reported, must be securely transported to another Wada-accredited laboratory,” the statement added.

The Wada informed that its ‘Laboratory Expert Group’ (LabEG) initiated disciplinary proceedings against the NDTL in May this year, which ended in its suspension for non-conformities. “If the laboratory satisfies the LabEG in meeting these requirements, it may apply for reinstatement prior to the expiry of the six-month suspension period. Should the laboratory not address the non-conformities by the end of the six-month suspension period, Wada may extend the suspension of the laboratory’s accreditation for up to an additional six months,” the world body stated.

The NDTL has been instructed to safely move all the samples lying with it to an accredited lab abroad after the Wada investigation found that the sample analysis methods of the NDTL were not up to the mark. The NDTL can appeal against the suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne in the next 21 days.

Fewer sample collections

The development has come as a huge embarrassment for the country, which figures sixth in the Wada’s global list of dope cheats. The NDTL’s suspension has also come as a huge setback to the Nada’s efforts to get the maximum samples dope tested as the huge cost involved in getting the analytical testing done abroad might prompt the country’s anti-doping watchdog to opt for fewer sample collections. Earlier, the Nada had projected overall 5,000 sample collections for the current financial year (2019-20), but, according to sources, that figure would now see a drastic dip and could be anywhere between 2,500-3,000 samples. The Nada used to send the samples for testing at the NDTL, but with its suspension now, the samples for next six months will be sent abroad and that would mean massive increase in its cost.

Not good news in Olympic year

The NDTL’s suspension will jeopardise the country’s anti-doping movement, especially in an Olympic year where it was expected of the Nada and NDTL to test athletes in large numbers, both in and out-of-competition. Every country wants to send clean athletes to international competitions, and for that, the Nada had set itself an ambitious target of 5,000 sample collections. But, now the international anti-doping agencies would specifically look to test the Indian athletes, knowing fully that the NDTL is suspended and the Nada is opting for less testing. In this scenario, the chances of those athletes resorting to the use of performance-enhancing drugs getting caught by the international agencies increases greatly, resulting in the global embarrassment.

NSFs may have to bear cost

There’s also a possibility that the national sports federations (NSFs) may be asked by the sports ministry to bear the overall cost of sample testing at the foreign lab and take a budgetary cut from their Annual Competition and Training Calendar (ACTC) budget. Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president, Narinder Batra, has already voiced his concern over any such move, arguing that the federations are already financially overburdened.

