It seems BCCI has successfully managed to get away from government’s interception in the dope testing of Indian cricketers. The sports ministry has backed off from its efforts to bring the BCCI under the supervision of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).

After the exchange of several letters between the ministry, BCCI and the NADA over the controversial issue of increasing the ambit of dope testing to include cricketers – registered with the BCCI – the ministry has allowed BCCI to continue with the present arrangement of getting the samples tested by the International Doping Tests & Management (IDTM), a Sweden-based private firm.

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In reply to an inquiry whether the ministry is still pursuing the case with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Cricket Council (ICC), on Friday, sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said, “The ministry wants every athlete to be dope tested. Fans, who believe in their sporting idols, shouldn’t feel cheated. Whoever is conducting dope tests, the ministry has no objection to it. The ministry has achieved its task as we want all the sports activities and sportspersons free of dope activities.”

Later, a senior BCCI official informed that the ministry has no plans to involve the NADA in the dope testing of cricketers and it just wanted to open a dialogue with the BCCI to ensure that proper collection of samples was happening.

As per the reports of TOI in October last year which stated that WADA had asked the ICC to direct the Indian board to allow drug-testing of cricketers by NADA. Failing this, it had warned that NADA could lose its accreditation with the WADA, leading to problems for other sports disciplines as well.

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In fact, in November last year, Rathore had specifically stated that the BCCI should trust NADA, just like every other sports body in the country does. “I am glad that cricket is getting dope control done through an outside agency. But when the entire sports bodies of the country and also of some other countries trust NADA, the cricketers can also do that.”

However, Indian board had refused the ministry’s claim arguing that it wasn’t a national sports organization, but an independent sports organization affiliated to the ICC and was required to operate within the rules and regulations set by the world body.