At CWG village, mass dope tests for members of Indian contingent

GOLD COAST/NEW DELHI: The Commonwealth Games are yet to begin Down Under and the Indian contingent already finds itself in the eye of a storm. After syringes were found in the rooms of some Indian athletes on Saturday (first reported by TOI on April 1), the Indians, arriving in batches, have been subjected to mass dope tests by organisers.


ALSO READ: India deny any wrongdoing after syringes found in compound
After targeting the Indian boxers first, the Australian

Sports Anti-Doping Agency

(

ASADA

) asked the gymnasts and swimmers to give their urine samples for dope testing the moment they entered the Games village – even before they could check into their respective rooms. The instructions seemed clear: “Spot the Indians, test them”.

ALSO READ: Indians in Gold Coast face scrutiny over syringes in rooms
The discovery of syringes was even escalated to the Commonwealth Games Federation’s Court for breaching the “no needle” policy. The court will conduct a hearing into the matter on Tuesday.

“This is the third consecutive event after Glasgow 2014 and Rio 2016, India have been caught doing this... Are they the Russia of the Commonwealth Games,” tweeted journalist Duncan Mackay.