The pressure has intensified on the BCCI to comply with National Anti-Doping Association (NADA) after Prithvi Shaw's positive drug test that led to a backdated suspension of eight months, ESPN reports.
The sports ministry of India has written a stern letter to the BCCI questioning its authority and its protocols in matters of dope tests, the Indian Express reported. The letter was written days before the Shaw matter came to light but gains further significance in light of the handling of the issue.
Shaw was tested in February, his results returned positive in May, but he earned an eight-month sentence in July, half of which was retrospective. During that period, Shaw had played the IPL and the T20 Mumbai League.
Refusing to work with the government agency NADA, the BCCI is the exception in the world of cricket: every other country complies with its national anti-doping body, which in turn complies with the world body, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). It is understood the BCCI has communicated to the ICC and WADA that it doesn't trust NADA. Its argument to NADA has been that the BCCI is not a national sports federation, which doesn't bring it under the ambit of the government agency.
The BCCI, in its report, said it was convinced Shaw had taken the banned substance terbutaline inadvertently when he took a cough syrup. However, almost presciently, the sports ministry of India asked BCCI questions the world is now asking after the Shaw incident, the biggest being the conflict of interest involved. The letter said that in cases of positive tests, NADA forms an independent panel that has no "prior involvement" with the parties involved.
The letter also questioned the BCCI's authority. "Article 5.2 of WADA code provides for sampling of athletes only by an anti-doping organisation with testing authority. It is a matter of fact that the BCCI is neither an anti-doping organisation with testing authority under WADA code nor it can acquire such a status," the letter said.
The BCCI does send the samples to the WADA-accredited National Drug Testing Laboratory (NDTL) in Delhi, which also does the testing for NADA.
Test opener Prithvi Shaw's case of doping violation is taking an interesting turn with each passing day. On Thursday, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) claimed that it could have avoided playing Prithvi in this year's IPL and Mumbai T20 League had the board received the cricketer's adverse report in time from the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL).
After IPL, Prithvi turned up in the Mumbai league - which was played from May 14 to 26 - for North Mumbai Panthers franchise as its captain and even won the title.
As per the agreement between the BCCI and the NDTL, if a cricketer's urine sample is collected during the IPL, then his sample report must be submitted within 48 hours. If a cricketer is tested during any other domestic competition, then NDTL must notify about it within 10 days from the date of sample collection.
In this case, Prithvi's urine sample was collected by the board's private anti-doping body, Sweden-based International Doping Tests and Management (IDTM), on February 22 in Indore during the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. NDTL was to submit the report by March 4, but Salvi claimed that the board was notified on May 2. This long delay of more than two months not only casts a shadow on NDTL's testing procedures, it also raises a question mark over BCCI's procedures.
Even if the NDTL was at fault, the point is why didn't BCCI provisionally suspend Prithvi on May 2 itself when it was first notified about the positive dope result. It allowed the 19-year-old to continue playing in the IPL. The Delhi franchise, meanwhile, has claimed it was never informed about the dope failure by BCCI.
Then, if the board took another 15 days' time to collect the complete lab documentation from the NDTL, then it should have provisionally suspended Prithvi on May 17, which did not happen. Prithvi continued to feature in the Mumbai league. His Mumbai franchise, too, cited its ignorance about the dope case.
