The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) on Thursday declared that doping was a big problem in India and that it would be working closely and monitoring the country’s anti-doping process and systems in the coming months.

WADA president Witold Banka and director of intelligence and investigations Günter Younger, addressing select media in New Delhi, admitted as much after the final conference of the expansion phase of its Global Anti-Doping Intelligence and Investigations Network (GAIIN) in Asia and Oceania.

The one-day meeting brought together representatives of law enforcement agencies and National Anti-Doping Organisations from 23 countries in Europe and 45 countries across the Asia/Oceania region besides INTERPOL and EUROPOL.

“Operation Upstream is a global operation across continents but there is no doubt that the biggest producer of illegal and performance enhancing drugs, illegal steroids is in India. Of course, there’s no doubt that we have a problem with doping in India. This is an ongoing, confidential operation but there are no doubts that there is a big problem here,” Banka said.

While appreciating the support from various Indian agencies, Banka nevertheless made it clear that compliance with WADA rules and cleaning up the house was non-negotiable to India’s hopes of hosting major sporting events.

“There is understanding of the problem here, no one is blind on the problem. I was very honest and very clear that we, as WADA, expect stronger engagement and commitment. Our expectation is to see how NADA applies the rules, how strong is the system, how the investigation looks like, to assess the educational actions and programmes. India is very ambitious when it comes to organising sporting events, it will not be possible without strong anti-doping policy,” he added.

He also agreed that there was a need to revise the code to make coaches and doctors more accountable and punishable without putting the onus completely on the athlete, something sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya hinted at during his address in the morning.

“The government is working towards introducing criminal provisions against those involved in administering or trafficking prohibited substances. While earlier efforts were largely confined to laboratory testing protocols and athlete compliance, doping today is an organised multinational enterprise, underscoring the need for coordinated global response,” Mandaviya said.

Banka also revealed that he had visited the National Dope Testing laboratory – with NADA Director General Anant Kumar saying there were plans to set up more labs — and that there would be a virtual audit regarding the results and management of the decision results and management process in the coming weeks. “There’s room for improvement and we see the need to accelerate in many areas like testing, I&I and verification. We will monitor the efforts as well,” Banka said.

Published on Apr 16, 2026