Panaji: National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) Director-General Anant Kumar has called for all stakeholders in the Indian sports ecosystem to come together and create greater awareness about the importance of clean sport.“We can be successful in reducing the incidences of doping in sports only if everyone involved works towards that,” Kumar said during the National Roundtable on Doping Prevention in Sports, organised by the Association for Sports Industry Professionals (ASIP) and Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad, the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.The roundtable brought together leading voices from India’s sports ecosystem to deliberate on the urgent need for stronger anti-doping awareness, deterrence & prevention strategies, and collective action by sports stakeholders.The roundtable featured a constructive policy dialogue on prevention, education, ethics, systemic drivers of doping, and the accountability of athlete support personnel. Discussions also touched upon socio-economic pressures, high reward–low risk dynamics, and the risks of contaminated nutritional supplements, which often contributes to doping vulnerabilities.“The idea was to strengthen NADA’s efforts in spreading awareness about the evils and adverse impact of doping,” said ASIP President Shaji Prabhakaran. “ASIP and IMT wanted to create a platform for meaningful dialogue and join hands with NADA and other agencies to bring focus to this critical issue.”Kanishka Pandey, Head of the IMT Centre for Sports Research and Development, stressed on the importance of clean sport in India’s long-term aspirations. “As India aspires to host the Olympics in 2036, doping remains one of the biggest challenges. The Olympic Movement stands not only for elite sport but also for clean sport and the values it represents,” he said.Participants included Neeraj Jha, Secretary General ASIP, former India goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan, National Dope Testing Laboratory Director Dr. P.L. Sahoo, sports medicine specialist Col. (Dr.) Sandipan Das Sarma, NADA Senior Official Dr. Ankush Gupta, sports psychologist Bhargavi Ojale, sports journalist G. Rajaraman, ASIP Board Member Munish Rao, and sports administrator Natarajan.ASIP and IMT Ghaziabad will jointly prepare a comprehensive report and white paper based on the deliberations, aimed at supporting India’s vision of becoming a leading sporting nation while ensuring a dope-free sporting environment.
