It is one of the country’s premier training centres for sport, and now the JSW’s Inspire Institute of Sport in Ballari in Karnataka is making sure that dope cheats don’t thrive there.
Twentythree athletes, from various sports disciplines, were thrown out of the IIS centre in October after syringes were found in many places on the campus.
One hears that syringes were found in rooms, drawers, bathrooms, in common areas and in a few other places at the centre.
It is not clear what triggered the checking or whether all the expelled athletes were linked to the syringes found — some may have been thrown out on disciplinary grounds too — but the IIS, which supports some of the biggest names in Indian sport, used the opportunity to clean up the place.
It is learnt that the illegal substances were mostly Russian stuff and a few ex-athletes were among those supplying them.
The maximum number of athletes expelled were from wrestling. According to a coach, many of the country’s leading track and field stars who were training there had gone home or were on a holiday when the checking happened. But their rooms were checked too.
“We did find a few syringes on the campus, and athletes were expelled on disciplinary grounds in line with the strict internal policies we follow at the IIS,” said Rushdee Warley, the CEO of IIS, in a statement to The Hindu after this writer contacted the centre.
“Our commitment to anti-doping practices remains firm, and we have robust checking mechanisms in place as well as an ongoing education program to teach athletes what is and what is not allowed. Incidents such as this will serve as grave reminders to our athletes that at IIS there is no room for any sort of cheating.”
The IIS now plans to conduct frequent dope tests and work more closely with the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to ensure that the stars who train there stay clean and honest to their sport.