Substantive abuse

The case of Seema Antil is getting curiouser and curiouser, as is the way of doping allegations that regularly hit Indian athletics. Inkling that all was not well with the discus thrower came with news that she had been sent back to India from the training camp for the Doha Asian Games. The Athletic Federation of India AFI tried to pass it off as a personal decision. This is standard operating procedure by the AFI upon substantial suspicion of substance abuse by one of its athletes. Now, of course, the World Anti-Doping Agency has confirmed that it is closely tracking India8217;s number one woman discus thrower.

The point of repeating the chronology is more than just recapping it for those who came late to the doping scandal. In it can be found much that is wrong with Indian sport. Antil8217;s is not a case of a sportsperson driven to extreme illegitimate steps to keep a career going. The manner of the coverup attempted upon intimation of doping suggests that the AFI is deeply implicated. It is useful to keep in mind that Antil became the top national discus thrower after Neelam Jaswant Singh first tested positive for banned substances last year at the world championships. Antil herself had failed to clear the substance test at a juniors8217; meet in Chile in 2000.

As with weightlifting, a history of substance abuse clings to athletic disciplines like discus throw. That in itself, one would think, would alert the AFI into taking especial care to test and counsel its athletes. But here8217;s the really dangerous suspicion that suggests itself from a reading of cases like Antil8217;s. The suspicion is that the authorities are cognisant of 8212; if not involved in 8212; the intake of these performance enhancing formulations. The inquiry into the Antil case must therefore be cast much wider than just her personal diet.