| Scores | Upcoming | Results |
New Delhi: The deadlock between the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) and the WADA continues, after the BCCI backed its players and refused to accept the "Whereabouts" clause. The Cricket Board's all-powerful Working Committee met in Mumbai on Sunday (August 2) to sort out the vexed issue of top Indian cricketers' refusal to sign the WADA Anti-Doping Code to which the International Cricket Council (ICC) is a signatory.
Post the all-crucial meet, BCCI's stand was clear as it said that it is not in favour of the WADA clause for out of play testing. It has also requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to negotiate with the WADA to rework on the clause. India is the only cricket playing nation which has not signed the clause yet.
The ICC had asked all its affiliated members to get their players sign the World Anti-Doping Agency's Code, but the BCCI was faced with the reluctance of 11 of its chosen cricketers, including two women, to comply it. The cricketers were unhappy with the "Whereabouts" clause, which makes it necessary for them to give details about their availability for one hour every day (between 6 am and 11 pm) for random out-of-competition testing by WADA officials.
WADA had said these are powerful deterrents and means of detecting doping by athletes. This specific rule is also part of the WADA's revised International Standard for Testing (IST) that came into effect along with the revised Anti-Doping Code on January 1 this year. The revised IST was approved by WADA's Executive Committee, composed in equal parts of representatives from governments and sport, on May 10 last year.
"Whereabouts" are information provided by a limited number of top elite athletes about their location to the International Sports Federation (IF) or National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO) that included them in their respective registered testing pool as part of these top athletes' anti-doping responsibilities.
Indian cricketers who are part of the country's testing pool are Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj. The cricketers have been asked to fill their "Whereabouts update form" in which they are expected to give details about their residence, training and regular activity locations in advance.
But the Indian players felt that such a clause not only infringes on their privacy, but also makes it difficult for them since they are not aware of their programmes two months in advance during the off-season. The players had earlier expressed their concerns to BCCI about this clause.
To make matters serious is the WADA rule that missing of three dope tests and/or failure to provide accurate whereabouts information within an 18-month period leads to the opening of a disciplinary proceeding by the Anti-Doping Organisation with jurisdiction over the athlete. The sanctions range between one and two-year ban depending on the circumstances of the case.
