Another shame for India as nation ranks third in list of doping violations

What's the story?

In a worrying piece of news, it has been reported that 852 Indian athletes have succumbed to doping charges since 2009, according to an Anti-Doping Rules Violation (ARDV) report published by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) recently, accessed by the Tribune. The shocking revelation comes following Indian shot-putter Manpreet Kaur's failure in a doping test recently. Athletics and weight-lifting are the worst affected fields with the most number of violators of doping policy coming from here.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had confirmed earlier this year as well that India now holds the dubious distinction of being ranked third in the world when it comes to most doping violations for 2015, with the number standing at a staggering 117. It means India now stands behind only Russia and Italy on the list of most violations.

Related: Doping: Russian octet cleared to compete as neutrals, 53 declined

In case you didn't know...

Over the years, Indian athletes have suffered at the world stage owing to various aspects such as poor training, lack of technology and even below-par conditioning.

What perhaps comes as a surprise then is that the main reason for Indian athletic plight even today is the existence of a culture of doping which has gripped the nation's very best athletes and does not seem to dissipate anytime soon.

The heart of the matter

The past three years, in particular, have seen a rapid increase in drug usage in the country's athletes with 2014 raking up 96 doping athletes from India, putting it ahead of France and Belgium in third place in the shameful list. As far as this year goes, the future does not seem all that bright either with the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) confirming that since January, 43 athletes have already been reprimanded and sanctioned for anti-doping violations.

Indian athletes were seen to have gone to great extents of doping, even using meldonium, for which tennis star Maria Sharapova was banned, and ginseng.

What's next?

Whether it is the lack of awareness or negligence in general that drives top athletes from the country down the road of doping is not quite sure yet, but the rut that India finds itself in could get worse if not sorted out immediately.

A nationwide clean up will hopefully lead to better results in the future.

Author's take

If care isn't taken quickly, India could end up like Russia and even be banned in certain events as big as the Olympics, which would bring shame to the nation like never before.