Anti-Doping measures at IPL: NADA will work with UAE’s NADO

The thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League is all set to begin on 19 September. This year's tournament will take place in the UAE and will have a few different aspects starting with the duration of the season (53 days) to Indian Government's doping agency taking reigns over dope control. 

For the first time, the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) which is the national organisation responsible for promoting, coordinating, and monitoring the doping control program in sports in all its forms in India will be in charge of dope control in the Indian Premier League. The government agency will join hands with the UAE’s  National Anti-Doping Committee (NADO) to carry out dope tests for IPL players during the 13th season.

As per the reports on Times of India, the Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) that will be followed in UAE during IPL will be of NADO's. The Indian Agency will send some of its Dope Control Officers (DCOs) to the UAE, where they will be subject to mandatory quarantine upon arrival in the country before the screening process can begin.

Navin Agarwal, Director-General of NADA told Times of India, “We will be conducting the dope testing at the IPL like any other BCCI event, following the health and safety protocols. We will be organizing the DCOs trip, either from India or the UAE or both to the match venues. NADA has discussed the issue with the UAE NADO and some amount of understanding has already been reached. We are waiting for the IPL governing council to finalize the tournament fixtures to plan accordingly.”

It is still unknown where the officers would stay, some say they could be accommodated in the BCCI’s Bio-Secure Bubble, or UAE’s NADO might even make separate arrangements for them. One thing is for certain that NADA will be in charge of these tests but will take assistance from their UAE counterparts. 

[With TOI inputs]