There was a news item published in national dailies on Wednesday which said Vinesh Phogat had been served a whereabouts violation notice by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA). She apparently violated the clause in early September by not being at home in Sonipat. From what we know, Vinesh is now a retired athlete. She is an active politician and is diligently campaigning in Haryana with elections round the corner.
While her name could well be in NADA’s Registered Testing Protocol as an elite athlete, many on social media wondered if that was even logical. Does she even care or should she even bother? Her sports career isn’t relevant at the moment, and as a politician now, her focus is on the elections. Why should NADA not take basic ground realities into account when sending such a notice?
But then, the question is whether Vinesh informed NADA of her retirement. Has she officially written to them saying that she isn’t going to compete anymore? What happens if, all of a sudden, she decides to return to competition and hasn’t been tested for a long while because she had announced her retirement? Unless Vinesh has formally informed NADA about her retirement decision, the body isn’t wrong to send her a notice.
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One of India’s greatest athletes sent me a couple of links yesterday and said, “We look bad.” The truth is we do. This is yet another unwarranted controversy. While NADA may have been conscientious in sending the notice based on its rule book, the reality is different at the moment. Vinesh isn’t even going to take cognizance of it. The notice simply isn’t relevant to her anymore. May be that’s why NADA should have issued a clarification that it hasn’t officially been informed by Vinesh of her retirement. That it is doing its job anticipating that she could well return to competitive wrestling if she so decides. Had such a clarification been issued, the notice would have made sense.
We in India do most things right. And then do some small things wrong, which hurts our image. This was one such. That NADA is now far more diligent with its efforts is known. That there is a structure to how it works is to be lauded. That we are getting serious with anti-doping is a welcome change. For the longest time, we have seen crusaders like KP Mohan and G Rajaraman comment on how things need to get better. Finally, we are seeing change.
In so many ways, NADA is doing things right. And then, when it serves a notice to a politician, it appears strange and flippant. That’s why it had a duty to clarify. The truth is that had Vinesh been an active athlete, she wouldn’t have violated the clause and the notice wouldn’t have made national news. Even if she missed it, it would have been a first violation and not something dire. Because she is now retired and in the news as a politician, the national media chose to carry the news. Have we seen news of a first violation by any other athlete making headlines in the national press? The answer is a resounding ‘No’. It happened with Vinesh because the notice wasn’t relevant, and made for a catchy headline.
It is, however, true that Vinesh still features in NADA’s Registered Testing Pool (RTP) and is thus required to give details about her availability for dope tests. That’s why she needed to officially inform the agency of her retirement. Only then could NADA not serve her a notice. And if she ever decides to compete again, she will need to inform NADA so that the official protocol is duly followed.
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