World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) President Witold Banka on Thursday pledged a comprehensive and co-ordinated crackdown on the supply chain of banned substances in India even as sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the government is working towards introducing criminal provisions against those involved in administering or trafficking prohibited substances.
Speaking to HT after the conclusion of WADA’s Global Anti-Doping Intelligence and Investigations Network (GAIIN) for the Asia-Oceania region, Banka said WADA is keeping a “close watch” on the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL).
Banka’s whirlwind tour of India included meetings with Mandaviya, NADA DG Anant Kumar, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special director Manoj Sashidhar, among other stakeholders of Indian sports.
“The biggest production of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) and steroids is in India. We know people who are producing it. That’s why we need to work with the CBI on destroying this market or making their life harder and to protect the athletes and protect the people’s health,” Banka said.
He later added: “India has aspirations of hosting the World Championships for different sports and also the Olympics, which is not possible without WADA compliance.”
His views came shortly after Mandaviya advocated for the criminalisation of doping. “Undertaking serious legislative, institutional and investigative reforms reflects not just compliance, but a genuine commitment to the integrity of sports,” the minister said.
“To strengthen this commitment, India enacted the National Anti-Doping Act 2022, which provides a robust statutory framework for anti-doping governance. In addition, recent reforms brought under the National Anti-Doping Amendment Act 2025 further harmonize our anti-doping legal framework as per the WADA code and international standards. We are also working to bring criminal provisions for an athlete’s sports personnel or other person administering a prohibited substance to an athlete as well as for persons involved with the trafficking of illegal supply of prohibited substances,” Mandaviya added.
Beyond numbers
With 260 Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs) from over 7000 samples tested by NADA in 2024, India topped the global doping chart for the third time in succession. Banka noted that the high AAFs shows “the system is working.”
“We are looking at the system from the compliance perspective, from the results management about disciplinary decisions, whether they are in line with the code, number of tests, how the testing pool looks like, whether the testing is intelligent. We are looking at the quantity of the programs. We are looking at education of athletes,” he said.
“It’s not only about the number of positive tests. This process will take months and years. I would be very concerned if in the next two years we’ll have very low number of positive cases; then I would say, ‘it’s impossible to fix it in one year or a few months,’” Banka added.
The WADA chief also spoke about ‘Operation Upstream’ — agency’s collaborative effort to hit the global supply networks of PEDs. “We need to shift our focus to intelligence-based testing,” he said. “WADA works closely with Interpol and we wish to extend that collaboration with CBI. We need to go after the people who run this organised system. I am a big believer of criminalising doping.”
Currently being run with the help of 20 law enforcement agencies across the world, Project Upstream began in 2022 in Europe and has gradually increased its footprint across the world, making it a one-of-its kind transcontinental effort.
As per WADA, about 250 operations are currently on worldwide, 88 illicit laboratories have been dismantled, and almost 90 tons of performance enhancing drugs have been seized. “This represents 1.8 billion doses of drugs being prevented from reaching the global market,” WADA said.
“The production takes place here (in India), but they are trafficking it to many countries, including in Europe and Americas. It’s a very sophisticated international operation,” Banka said.
India under watch
Banka, who visited NADA and NDTL during his visit, said the global body intends to keep a close watch on India’s anti-doping systems and resources.
“In the next few weeks, there’s going to be a virtual audit regarding NADA’s results management. We have some concerns about those procedures. I’ve told them (NADA) that they need to accelerate efforts, increase the number of tests, invest more on education, invest more in intelligence investigations. So, yeah, definitely we will have a look at those things, we’ll have an eye on them and we will work with them.”
“My visit is not to punish anyone, but to offer our assistance because I want India, as a great, fantastic sporting nation, to have a strong anti-doping program in place. We are here to assist and to address the challenges. This is always our major mission,” Banka said.
Meanwhile, NADA is contemplating to build at least two more drug-testing labs in the country, although there’s no concrete timeline in place yet. NDTL is one of only 29 WADA-accredited laboratories worldwide.
“A country of India’s expanse definitely needs more than one lab. We have sent a proposal to the ministry to build at least two more labs. To get WADA accreditation is a long process so we don’t have a deadline yet, but we are looking at long term measures to address the doping issue,” NADA DG Anant Kumar said.
“We are also foocussed on capacity building Our staff is being trained on investigation and interrogation techniques and working together with law enforcement agencies,” Kumar added.
