NEW DELHI: The second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL), currently underway in the UAE, has not seen any cricketer participating in the tournament being tested for dope.
NADA, which is mandated to carry out doping control programme in sports in the country – hasn’t sent any of its dope control officers (DCOs) to the gulf nation after BCCI and NADA failed to reach an understanding over sample collection of cricketers during the course of the tournament.
One of the DCOs had returned positive for Covid-19 during the IPL’s India leg in April, despite being part of the tournament’s strict bio-bubble arrangements. That, apparently, has made BCCI skeptical.
Before the beginning of the 14th edition on April 9, NADA had decided to set up three dope control stations (DCS) in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. With Chennai hosting the tournament’s opening fixtures, NADA had entered its DCOs in the BCCI-managed bio-bubble in the city for carrying out out-of-competition testing of cricketers, mainly focusing on the best performers.
However, testing was stopped after the DCO tested Covid positive. Till then, only a few samples were collected by NADA. Later, the tournament was abruptly suspended.
After the start of the UAE leg, the parties – BCCI and NADA – could not reach a consensus on how to restart sample collection. Also, the BCCI seemed hesitant to allow DCOs enter its strict bio-bubble environment for franchises and officials.