The presence of the National Anti-Doping Agency at the National men’s inter-university athletics championships, which concluded in Chennai on Sunday, was a big reason for Calicut University winning the overall team title there, says Sakeer Hussain, the university’s director of physical education.
“We are winning the title after 12 years and the big difference this time was the presence of NADA. We would have won the women’s title also had NADA been present during the recent women’s National varsities championship in Bhubaneswar,” said Sakeer, the Calicut University’s sports head, in a chat with The Hindu on Monday.
“Many athletes are using steroids. My students said many rooms were full of syringes. We need NADA in all inter-university athletics meets in future because after these meets, most of them get into Indian camps...if they test positive, that will affect the national federation (AFI) or the Indian team. Doping is a major problem in AIU (Association of Indian Universities) meets.”
