Criminalisation of doping and preparations for the upcoming Commonwealth and Asian Games will be the major talking points when sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya holds a day-long meeting with representatives of national federations in New Delhi on Thursday.
Also on the agenda would be the implementation of the National Sports Governance Act, and India’s preparedness to host major international competitions at a greater scale. The meeting will be a closed door affair at the National Stadium.
“It’s basically a stock-taking exercise as far as Asiad and CWG is concerned. The minister will discuss the proposal to criminalise doping as well,” said a well-placed source.
Mandaviya has advocated that the National Anti-Doping Act be amended to include provisions of jail and hefty fines for suppliers of banned substances. The penal provisions were a part of the draft anti-doping bill of 2018 but were dropped after objections raised by bodies such as the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Criminalisation of doping was a major talking point at the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Global Anti-Doping Intelligence and Investigations Network (GAIIN) Final Conference last month.
WADA President Witold Banka had said that he would encourage governments to criminalise the menace but only target suppliers and facilitators like corrupt coaches and managers while safeguarding the interests of the athletes.
The 2018 draft bill in India had provisions for a four-year jail term and Rs. 10 lakh fine for suppliers of prohibited substances. But the government, at that time, sided with the idea of a “preventive legislation, rather than a criminal legislation.” Currently, in India, the disciplinary action on supply of banned substances to athletes is limited to bans that can last up to a lifetime depending on the degree of the offence.
India has been topping the WADA’s global list of dope offenders for the past three years.
CWG and Asiad preparations
The contingents for both the showpieces are yet to be released and the National Sports Federations (NSFs) are expected to brief the minister about the preparations.
The CWG will be held in July-August in Glasgow, while the Asiad is scheduled in September-October in Japan.
Implementation of National Sports Governance Act
The National Sports Governance Act, which was partially implemented on January 1, will be another major talking point. The minister is expected to seek a compliance report from the NSFs, which had been given six months to amend their by-laws in accordance with the new law.
They have also been allowed to delay any pending election process till the end of this year for a smooth transition.
The act mandates at least four Sportspersons Of Merit, two of them women, in the General Bodies of national sports bodies.
A three-member National Sports Board, from which the NSFs will have to seek affiliation for grant of government funds, is still awaited as a five-member search-cum-selection headed by the Cabinet Secretary assesses candidates.
Fitness Protocols
The minister had instructed the National Centre for Sports Science and Research (NCSSR) to develop discipline-specific protocols for periodic fitness reviews of athletes a few weeks ago. A discussion on this is also expected to take place.
Currently, the fitness assessment of elite athletes, who are part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme, is overseen by the Mission Olympic Cell, while the national federations also carry out such assessments during camps.
But once the NCSSR comes up with the Standard Operating Procedure for it, the body would also become sole regulator of the process.
“The NCSSR will be responsible for scientific oversight, validation and periodic review of the fitness protocols and SOPs. All such assessment data shall mandatorily be uploaded on the National Sports Repository System (NSRS),” the ministry had stated earlier.
The NSFs have also been told to publish an Annual Fitness Testing Calendar on their respective websites in consultation with Sports Authority of India.
Published on May 06, 2026