Parliament Question: Doping Violations in India

Government of India Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports Department of Sports LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3531 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.08.2026 Doping Violations in India

3531. SHRI SUNIL BOSE:

DR. PRASHANT YADAORAO PADOLE:

ADV GOWAAL KAGADA PADAVI:

Will the Minister of YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS be pleased to state:

(a) the details of number of athletes who tested positive for doping in India, sport-wise and age-category-wise, since 2015;

(b) the details of disciplinary action taken against athletes, coaches, trainers and support staff involved in doping violations, year-wise;

(c) whether the Government has assessed the impact of rising doping cases on India’s credibility and performance in international sporting events and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the measures taken/being taken by the Government to strengthen anti-doping enforcement, improve athlete awareness and prevent repeated doping violations in the country? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF YOUTH AFFAIRS & SPORTS [DR. MANSUKH MANDAVIYA]

(a) The details of number of athletes sports-wise and age-category- wise are at placed at Annexure I and Annexure II respectively.

Page 1 of 7(b) The number of athletes/coaches/athlete support staff sanctioned by the Anti-Doping Disciplinary/Appeal Panel from 2015 -2026 are

given below:

YEAR Total Anti-Doping Total Anti-Doping Rule

Rule Violations Violations (ADRVs) cases

(ADRVs) cases involving involving Athletes Coach/trainer/support staff 2015 117 - 2016 69 - 2017 57 - 2018 107 - 2019 152 - 2020 59 - 2021 51 - 2022 130 01 2023 222 - 2024 278 - 2025 148 - 2026 102 01 Disciplinary action in the form of consequences like sporting sanctions, suspension, disqualifications of results etc have been imposed on the above athletes and coaches /supporting staff as per the National Anti-Doping Rules.

(c) & (d) The Government maintains a strict zero-tolerance stance on doping in sports. It continuously monitors doping trends and their implications for the integrity, fairness and credibility of sports through the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).

Recognizing that doping poses a challenge to clean sport and athlete welfare, the Government has adopted a comprehensive and proactive anti-doping framework in line with the World Anti-Doping Code, focusing on prevention, detection, education, intelligence-led investigations and effective enforcement to safeguard India's sporting ecosystem and uphold its international commitments.

Page 2 of 7The Government has taken several measures to strengthen anti- doping enforcement, enhance athlete awareness and prevent repeat Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) in the country. These include:

i. Implementation of the National Anti-Doping Act, 2022 and the National Anti-Doping Rules in conformity with the World Anti- Doping Code, providing a statutory framework for anti-doping activities in India.

ii. Conduct of an intelligence-led and risk-based doping control programme by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), including both in-competition and out-of-competition testing, with focused testing based on risk assessment and intelligence inputs.

iii. Conduct of regular anti-doping education and awareness programmes for athletes, coaches, Athlete Support Personnel and other stakeholders through workshops, seminars, outreach programmes and online learning platforms.

iv. Promotion of the World Anti-Doping Agency's Anti-Doping Education and Learning (ADEL) platform and dissemination of educational resources, including the Fair Play Guide and other awareness material in multiple Indian languages, to improve knowledge of anti-doping rules, athletes' rights and responsibilities, Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs), supplement risks and the consequences of doping.

v. Provision of digital tools, including the Know Your Medicine

(KYM) mobile application, to enable athletes to verify the prohibited status of medicines before use and make informed decisions. vi. Strengthening digital awareness and public outreach through targeted social media campaigns, interactive educational content, athlete-focused awareness initiatives and dissemination of anti-doping information across digital platforms.

***** Page 3 of 7Annexure-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3531 FOR

10.08.2026 ASKED BY SHRI SUNIL BOSE, DR. PRASHANT YADAORAO PADOLE AND ADV GOWAAL KAGADA PADAVI REGARDING “DOPING VIOLATIONS IN INDIA”.

Sports/Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026* Aquatics - 1 - - 2 - - 1 3 4 - 1 Archery - - - - 3 - 2 - - - 1 - Arm Wrestling - - - - - - - - - - 1 - Athletics 24 23 22 14 35 9 16 47 61 76 35 35 Automobile Sports - - - 1 1 - - - - 2 - - Badminton - - - - 1 - 1 - - 1 - - Basketball - - - 1 2 1 - 2 - 2 2 Billiards Sports - - - - - - - - 1 - - - Bodybuilding - 1 9 - 60 - 6 2 5 8 3 7 Bowling - - - - - - - 1 - - - - Boxing 8 - 4 4 6 3 - 2 9 17 8 3 Bridge - - - - - - 1 - 2 - - Canoeing - - - 3 - - 2 - 5 6 7 1 Cricket - - - - 1 - - - - 2 - Cycling 5 - - 3 - - - 1 5 3 2 - Equestrian - - - 1 - - - - - 1 1 - Fencing - - - 1 - 1 - - 2 - - - Field Hockey 2 - 1 2 - - - 1 1 - 1 - Football 1 - 1 - 1 1 - 2 - - 1 1 Page 4 of 7Golf - - - 2 - - - - - - - - Gymnastics - - - 1 - - - 1 - - - - Handball - 1 - 3 - - - - - 2 1 - Ice Hockey - - - - - - - - - - 2 - Judo 2 - 2 3 11 - - 7 8 6 5 3 Ju-Jitsu - - 1 - 1 - - - - - 1 Kabaddi 5 10 1 7 2 7 1 4 6 10 4 2 Karate - - - - - - - 1 - - - - Kickboxing - - - - - - - - - 1 3 Kurash - - - - - - - - - - 3 1 Modern Pentathlon - - - - - - - - - - 1 Motorcycle Racing - - - - - - - - - 1 - - Netball - - - - - - - - 1 1 - - Para-Athletics - 1 - 1 - - - 2 5 4 1 1 Para-Powerlifting - - - - 4 - - 3 2 2 1 1 Pencak Silat - - - - - - - - 2 1 - - Polo - - - - - - - - - - 1 - Powerlifting 4 14 14 14 19 7 6 6 28 17 5 1 Roller Sports - - - - - - - - 1 - - 2 Rowing 1 - - 1 22 - - - 3 2 - 4 Rugby League - - - - - - - - - 1 - - Rugby Union - - - - - - 1 - - - - 1 Sailing - - - - - - - - - 1 - - Shooting - - - 2 3 1 1 1 3 - - 1 Shooting Para Sport - - - - - - - 2 - - - - Page 5 of 7Skating - - - - - - - - - 4 2 - Squash - - - - - - - - - 1 - - Swimming 3 - - - - - - - - - - - Table Tennis - - - - - - - - 2 - - - Taekwondo - 1 1 2 1 - 1 - - - - Tennis - - - 1 1 - - - - - - - Triathlon - - - - - - - - 3 - - - Volleyball - 1 2 7 3 1 - 1 2 2 1 1 Weightlifting 56 14 10 21 32 15 1 17 38 43 11 9 Wrestling 7 5 5 5 12 6 3 18 11 34 21 14 Wushu 2 - - 4 4 1 2 1 6 5 5 3 Grand Total 120 72 73 104 225 55 42 125 213 260 132 92 *till August 5, 2026 ***** Page 6 of 7Annexure-II ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3531 FOR 10.08.2026 ASKED BY SHRI SUNIL BOSE, DR. PRASHANT YADAORAO PADOLE AND ADV GOWAAL KAGADA PADAVI REGARDING “DOPING VIOLATIONS IN INDIA”.

Year Senior (>18 Y) Junior (<18 Y) Total 2015 - - 120 2016 - - 72 2017 60 13 73 2018 81 23 104 2019 195 30 225 2020 51 4 55 2021 40 2 42 2022 113 12 125 2023 186 27 213 2024 242 18 260 2025 114 18 132 2026 87 5 92 ***** Page 7 of 7