Before the start of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Glasgow, a shocking doping scandal rocked the weightlifting contingent. Four national qualifiers – N Ajith (71kg), Sairaj Pardeshi (88kg), Harcharan Singh (110kg) and Vanshita Verma (77kg) – tested positive for banned substances during qualification, forcing them out of the games. The fallout extends beyond individual suspensions. Under CWG regulations, repeated anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) resulted in India losing a weightlifting quota, denying Dilbagh Singh a place in the squad despite being selected on merit.More to come. Men’s 73kg judoka Arun Kumar, who won the Taipei Asian Open gold medal last year, has been temporarily suspended after testing positive for banned anabolic steroids. Days later came perhaps the biggest setback when Olympian and Birmingham CWG silver medalist Tulika Maan (+78kg) was provisionally suspended after accumulating three place failures in a 12-month period.It’s not just the possible loss of medals. Six high-profile anti-doping setbacks in two disciplines have shifted the conversation from podium finishes to the country’s shameful relationship with doping. However, at a time when India is the world’s worst doping offender in sports, with the highest credibility, few want to openly discuss the elephant in the room.But looking away doesn’t make the problem go away. That is also at a time when Ahmedabad is preparing to host the next Commonwealth Games in 2030 and the country has formally declared its intention to host the 2036 Olympics.
A Disturbing Trend
According to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) 2024 Testing Figures Report, released in December 2025, India registered 260 adverse analytical findings (AAFs) from 7,113 samples collected during the year – a positive rate of 3.6%. Among countries that conduct more than 5,000 tests per year, India recorded the highest positivity rate in the world for the third year in a row.The comparison with other sports powers is sobering. France reported 91 violations from 11,744 tests, Russia 76 from 10,514 samples, while China only found 43 positives despite collecting more than 24,000 samples. The United States recorded a positive rate of only 1.1% after conducting more than 6,500 tests.The challenge is found in athletics. The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) now lists India as the country with the highest number of active sanctions worldwide. As many as 162 Indian athletes and support personnel have served bans under the AIU framework, ahead of Kenya (148) and Russia (60).
New Substances. Old Standard:
The list of substances that have repeatedly surfaced in Indian cases shows a worrying trend. Stanozolol, a synthetic anabolic steroid banned under WADA’s S1 category, continues to dominate anti-doping reports despite years of awareness campaigns. The drug is designed to promote muscle growth, accelerate recovery and reduce body fat.Recent athletes who have tested positive for stanozolol include former Youth World boxing champion Vinka, Asian Indoor rowing championships winner Gursewak Singh, junior sprint sensation Nipam Chauhan, wrestler Shubham and kabaddi player Akash Nathu Disale.Perhaps the most damaging of the recent cases is Nipam. India’s fastest junior woman sprinter now faces losing the silver and bronze medals she won at the Asian Under-20 championships in Hong Kong after testing positive for stanozolol.
Beyond Punishment:
The government has begun to shift its focus beyond athletes to the broader ecosystem that enables doping. At the inaugural conference of WADA’s ‘Global Anti-Doping Intelligence and Investigations Network’ (GAIIN) held recently in New Delhi, sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya outlined what could be the biggest overhaul of India’s anti-doping policy.“Doping is now no longer an individual act but an organized multinational business,” he said, adding that the proposed changes to the National Anti-Doping Amendment Act 2025 seek to bring coaches, doctors, suppliers and traffickers under criminal liability.The draft provisions envisage prison terms ranging from five to 10 years, with financial penalties for those involved in the administration or sale of illegal substances. Athletes guilty only of anti-doping rule violations will continue to be dealt with under current sport regulations.Mandaviya emphasized that India’s ambitions go beyond medals. “India is committed not only to sporting excellence but to upholding the highest standards of integrity,” he said, adding that knowledge, education and technology will remain the central pillars of the country’s clean sports programme.The government has simultaneously expanded testing, nearly doubling annual samples from around 4,000 in 2019 to around 8,000 last year. “Our testing program has grown significantly in recent years, complemented by a strategic shift to methods based on risk and effectiveness. However, as we recognize, testing alone is no longer enough, and integration, intelligence and education must be at the core of our antidoping framework,” said NADA director general Anant Kumar.
Message to Athletes:
Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra has now become one of the loudest voices advocating for the education of athletes. After the launch of the ‘Clean Sport’ initiative by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) through the Neeraj Chopra Foundation (NCF), Chopra said that many athletes were breaking anti-doping rules because they lacked reliable guidance.“Any doping violation is a concern because it affects the athlete and the game. But not all cases stem from an intent to gain an unfair advantage. Sometimes athletes don’t know enough about what they are using or who to trust for advice,” Chopra told TOI.Explaining his decision to champion the campaign despite a packed schedule, Chopra added: “Many athletes lack access to proper information on supplements, drugs and anti-doping rules.
Beyond Black & White
Not everyone believes that the current anti-doping framework is beyond criticism. Sports medicine expert Dr PSM Chandran argues that while cheating is unacceptable, the current system also raises scientific and ethical concerns.“Doping can be harmful to sport. Things are fair play, and cheating is not tolerated. However, doping control in its current format is also harmful to athletes because it strictly follows the WADA Code while often ignoring evidence-based medicine, proportionality and natural justice,” he said.He questioned whether every positive test should translate into a measurable competitive advantage and called on the authorities to publish analyzes of the athletes’ performance before and after the alleged doping periods.“In the absence of such evidence, the claim that banned substances generally improve performance remains belief, not science,” argues Chandran, president of the Indian Federation of Sports Medicine (IFSM). His views are likely to divide opinion, but they also point to the complexity of anti-doping policy, where science, ethics and sporting integrity often intersect.
Education, Not Fear
National gymnastics coach Manoj Rana believes that India’s response should start early. “Indian sport has witnessed remarkable growth on the global stage, but the increasing number of doping violations continues to undermine these achievements. The answer is not only stricter penalties but stronger prevention,” said Rana.He pointed out the intense pressure on athletes to win medals, secure government jobs and maintain financial support, often without access to qualified nutritionists, sports scientists or evidence-based medical guidance.The problem is further complicated by changing training standards. Many elite Indian athletes now train abroad, especially in Eastern Europe and high-altitude centers in Russia, Turkey and Georgia. While exposure to foreigners has improved performances, investigators also believe some athletes are operating outside India’s domestic testing ecosystem under uncertified local support staff or little-known foreign coaches. Indian authorities have previously terminated engagements with some Eastern European coaches following a sudden increase in positive tests among elite campers.
Uncomfortable conflict:
Ironically, at a time when India is facing global scrutiny over doping, financial support for its anti-doping institutions has dwindled.The Union Budget has reduced allocations for NADA and National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL). The allocation to NADA fell from Rs 24.30 crore to Rs 20.30 crore, while the revised allocation for NDTL fell from Rs 28.55 crore to Rs 23 crore, with the laboratory’s own budget reduced to Rs 5.55 crore.The cuts inevitably raise questions about whether India’s anti-doping institutions can continue to expand testing, intelligence gathering and education when they are most needed.
The Real Test:
For India, therefore, Glasgow represents more than just another CWG. It is a reminder that hosting the CWG in Ahmedabad, securing the 2036 Olympics or hosting the Asian Games in 2038 will ultimately depend not only on world-class stadiums or impressive medal tallies, but on the credibility of the country’s sporting ecosystem.India has already shown that it has the ambition, infrastructure and organizational capacity to emerge as a global sports destination. But while the list of errant athletes continues to grow rapidly, the biggest challenge is to provide a strong culture of clean sport. The danger of letting things drift cannot be understated. Let’s not forget that Russia was banned from international sports due to doping violations. A strict law is accepted. But the authorities must also take a holistic and long-term view of the threat and find ways to eliminate it completely.