Explained: How & Why BCCI Agreed to Fully Comply With NADA Norms

How BCCI agreeing to fully comply with NADA norms affects Indian cricket and cricketers.

(Photo: The Quint)

Prithvi Shaw failed a dope test earlier this year, his suspension was announced last month and just weeks later, the BCCI has agreed to end years of defiance and become fully compliant with the dope-testing norms of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).

The decision was made in a meeting involving Sports Secretary Radheshyam Jhulaniya, BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and BCCI GM (Cricket Operations) Saba Karim on Friday, 9 August. in New Delhi.

So, how have things changed now for Indian cricket? How does this affect Indian cricketers? Why was the board defiant till now?

Here are a few answers.

What changes for Indian cricketers?

The National Anti-Doping Agency will carry out tests on cricketers "whenever and wherever they want" according to Sports Secretary Radheshyam Jhulaniya.

"All athletes irrespective of their country of origin or country of citizenship come under the jurisdiction of the national anti-doping agency, that's the WADA's charter and we are a partner."

Therefore, after the signing of the agreement on 9 August 2019, all Indian cricketers now have to furnish details of their whereabouts as and when asked by NADA.

Does this affect the BCCI?

While conforming with the NADA laws doesn't affect the workings of the Indian Cricket board, the agreement with the Indian government now could have far and wide repercussions.

Till now, the BCCI’s biggest contention for not complying fully with all NADA clauses was that it was an autonomous body and not a National Sports Federation (NSF) since it was financially independent and didn't rely on the Indian government for funding.

However, with the BCCI officially coming under the NADA ambit, it now becomes a designated National Sports Federation and will face pressure to come under the government's Right To Information (RTI) Act, another proposal the cricket body had been sidestepping for many years.

Were cricketers not being dope-tested till now?

While cricket boards from across the world have been complying with dope-testing norms, the Indian cricket board had managed to steer clear of it till the start of this year.

In March, however, the BCCI agreed to get into a conditional tripartite agreement with the NADA and ICC according to which cricketers’ dope-test samples were collected by officials appointed by the BCCI and not the NADA since the Board said it didn't trust NADA DCOs "due to stories of goof-ups that consistently appear."

Sweden-based International Dope Testing Management (IDTM) has been collecting the samples and submitting them to the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) where the test was conducted according to WADA norms.

After Friday’s agreement, Sports Secretary Jhulaniya declared that “IDTM is no longer the authorised agency”.

Jhulaniya also made it clear that the Board cannot sign any agreement with a government body (NADA in this case) without the ministry's consent.

What happens to the contentious 'Whereabouts Clause'?

So far, the BCCI has maintained that the World Anti-Doping Agency's 'Whereabouts Clause' with regards to Out of Competition Testing was of the biggest concern to them.

This, according to the BCCI was an invasion of the privacy of Indian cricketers and thus they had resisted falling under the ambit of the NADA for years.

The 'Whereabouts Clause' requires every athlete to fill up a declaration form wherein he/she would have to mention three specific dates in a year when they are not competing but are available for NADA's Dope Control Officer (DCO) for sample collection.

If any athlete fails to appear on all the specified dates, it invites sanctions for breach of the WADA code.

One such example would be West Indian cricketer Andre Russell who was banned for one year by the Jamaican Anti-Doping Agency.

Did the board buckle under pressure?

The agreement between the BCCI and the Sports Ministry comes at a time when Indian cricket is being run by a three-member Super Court appointed Committee of Administers (CoA).

While previous administrators had stood their ground and refused to comply with the NADA rules, the BCCI’s CEO has got the go-ahead from the CoA following recent pressure tactics from the government.

It recently held back clearances for the tours by South Africa A and women's teams and it was speculated that this was done to pressure the BCCI into accepting anti-doping norms.

The move seems to have worked as Johri confirmed that the cricket board has now got clearance for the A as well as the women's series after having waited for close to six months.

How are BCCI officials reacting?

A failure to handle the Prithvi Shaw case properly is being seen as the reason for Rahul Johri’s decision to comply with the NADA forms.

Two-Test-old Shaw was recently handed a doping ban till 15 November for a doping violation in the 2018-19 domestic season.

"You need to do your homework. They needed to be aware of the WADA code, NADA code, be aware of the cases that have been detected in cricket over time and also how and why the BCCI didn't wish to accept NADA for so long. But the duo didn't have any knowledge. They were in sporting terms beaten left, right and centre.

"The case of Shaw was badly handled and this seems like a clear case to cover that up. It is very clear who were the people at fault when it came to the opener failing the dope test. And the blame clearly lies on the people who needed to divert the attention," the functionary said.

Some members also added that the "decision to buckle under government pressure" may lead to the Board losing its autonomy despite being financially independent.

"Johri and Saba have failed Indian cricket in the NADA test. The excuse being given is the need to follow the law of the land. Surprising how there is a sudden feeling that it is important to follow that right away and people can't even wait till the elections are conducted. If we could wait for so long, why not a few months more? We all know what is happening," a BCCI functionary said.