India has been elevated to a list of countries, including Russia, where there is an “extremely high” risk of doping, the Athletics Integrity Unit said on Monday.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) joins countries such as Russia, Belarus, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Ukraine in the AIU’s highest Category A rating after moving up from Category B.
Category A means that Indian athletes must now meet stricter anti-doping requirements.
The world’s most populous country will be in the top two for most anti-doping violations in athletics between 2022 and 2025, the AIU said.
“The doping situation in India has long been high-risk and unfortunately the quality of the domestic anti-doping program is simply disproportionate to the doping risk,” said AIU President David Howman.
“While the AFI has advocated for anti-doping reforms in India, not enough has changed.
“The AIU will now work with the AFI to implement reforms to protect the integrity of the sport of athletics, as we have done with other Category A member federations.”
The AIU is an independent body charged with combating corruption and misconduct, including doping, in athletics.
India plans to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games, which is seen as a springboard for its ambition to host the 2036 Olympics.
In the latest doping case in Indian athletics, Asian Games gold medalist Prathamesh Jawkar has been banned for two years.
He accepted the punishment for the whereabouts failure and will miss the September-October Asian Games in Japan.
Witold Banka, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), was in New Delhi last week and said India is the largest producer of performance-enhancing drugs.
He, however, noted that India, which consistently tops the drug fraud list, will not hinder its chances of hosting prestigious global sporting events.
