In a bid to ensure that athletes avoid contaminated supplements, which are also often cited as a reason for drug test failures by offenders caught in the anti-doping net, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday inaugurated a Center of Excellence in Gandhinagar that would evaluate such additives . The Minister virtually inaugurated the Center of Excellence for Nutritional Supplements Testing for Sportspersons (CoE-NSTS) at the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
CoE-NSTS will test athlete supplements to ensure only the best products are available to athletes preparing for mega-events.
“When we talk about the Road to Paris, all we have to say is play safe, play clean and play fair. For that, awareness is very important. Besides awareness, you also need to have the right facilities for the athletes,” said Thakur on the sidelines of the conference 'Road to Paris 2024: Championing Clean Sports and Uniting for Anti-Doping'.
“Until now there was no possibility to test nutritional supplements. Now we do. So if there are contaminated supplements in gyms, strength enhancers, they can now also be checked. Athletes can also get good quality supplements to improve their performance ”, he added.
Doping is the bane of Indian sports and often athletes caught in testing plead innocence, claiming that they accidentally ingested banned substances due to counterfeit supplements and medications.
Stressing the principles of fair play, Thakur said integrity is essential and the country wants to put its best foot forward at the Paris Olympics in July and August this year.
CoE-NSTS, he said, was a step in creating the facilities that would bring greater transparency.
“CoE-NSTS will conduct research into nutritional supplements and athletes can get more information about the nutrients. For Road to Paris 2024, it is very important that we make athletes aware of anti-doping activities and keep them away from doping.” he said.
The minister said the establishment of CoE-NSTS “is in line with the ministry's objective to develop testing facilities for food supplements in India”. Thakur praised the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and said: “NADA's efforts to promote clean sport and anti-doping measures have played a crucial role in training athletes, conducting testing and enforcing anti-doping rules and policies.”
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