India has sent a 191-member Indian contingent to the United Kingdom for the Commonwealth Games.
India have been facing embarrassment since the start of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow (Scotland) due to doping cases. Judoka Arun Kumar was expelled from the Indian contingent and put on board to return home by night after his preliminary results came out ahead of the formal start of the competitions on Thursday. He has been found guilty of taking a performance improvement banned drug. On the same day, an Indian weightlifter, Dilbag Singh, was also boarded the ship; Not because of his own fault; Because of the shortcomings of colleagues.
He was not guilty of doping, but his repatriation was attributed to his peers who had previously been embroiled in anti-doping cases. According to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules, five Indian weightlifters were found guilty of doping between June 1, 2025 and July 22, 2026. Due to such a large number of doping cases, the Indian weightlifting quota at the Glasgow Games was reduced from 16 to 11 competitors as per Olympic rules. Indian sports officials had earlier hoped that the Commonwealth Games organisers would allow 12 weightlifters to compete in the competitions. For this reason, 12 weightlifters were included in the Indian contingent. But permission was granted only for the participation of 11. However, despite his medal hopes, Dilbag Singh's return was justified as he had not been able to train for several days at the Indian training centre in Birmingham due to back pain. India has sent a 191-member Indian contingent to the UK for the Commonwealth Games.
It has 126 athletes and the rest are officials. Despite having such a large sporting contingent, India's medal prospects are not high this time as wrestling, hockey, cricket, shooting and some other sports disciplines in which India has often won medals have not been included in the Commonwealth Games. India tops the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) ranking on the basis of positive doping cases among athletes. It's, indeed, a very humiliating rating. According to the WADA bulletin, the number of Indian offenders using performance-enhancing drugs or methods during national or international competitions has been more than three per cent.
Such fraud is intolerable. Regrettably, the prevalence of doping has not decreased but increased in the last five years despite strictness from national and international agencies. If this trend continues, India's participation in international competitions of various sports formats may be banned for some time. Despite such a threat, the lack of seriousness by the national federations of sports such as athletics, weightlifting, wrestling etc. continues to bring disrepute and disgrace to India.
As per the WADA guidelines for the prevention of doping, India has a National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) which has been functioning under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) is also set up in New Delhi to assist him. While they actively take blood and urine samples of athletes during international and national competitions, they are also called for tests even during non-competition days. Despite such vigilance, the high number of Indians caught in doping cases is an endorsement of the fact that our athletes or their coaches do not consider it unethical to avoid cheating to win medals. There are many reasons for this trend. One of the main reasons is the huge monetary awards and government jobs that the winners of international competitions get. Getting crores of rupees for winning an international competition breaks the minds of many athletes. Similarly, the presence of steroids, strength-boosters, or other such substances in Indian pharmacies and gyms is also fuelling doping. Moreover, the ignorance of the information provided by WADA on banned substances from time to time has also been a source of misery for the athletes or their coaches. All such evils can be avoided by strengthening morals. But neither our rulers nor the sports federations are paying attention to this.
