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.”
Incidentally, The Hindu’s report about the presence of syringes and vials in stadium washrooms during the women’s varsities Nationals in Bhubaneswar, held before the men’s Nationals, had forced the NADA to test athletes in Chennai.
Sakeer also said having the camp in three stages and specialised combined training for relay teams at the university’s headquarters also helped Calicut in a big way at the National meet.
Xavior Poulose, a Kerala Sports Council coach attached to Thrissur’s St. Thomas College who went with the Calicut University team to Chennai, felt the varsities meets should be organised in a better way.
“The AIU meets are not being conducted in a proper way. We had the South Zone meet two days before the all-India championship. Nobody cares about the athletes or their welfare.
“The performance of many athletes was fantastic in the South Zone but when NADA turned up at the National championships, things were different. The performance came down in a big way.”
Madras University had won the South Zone championship (131 points) while Mangalore was runner-up with 74.
“We finished third in the South Zone but after NADA turned up at the all-India meet there were many who did not start or finish their events,” said Xavier.
In the 5000m, four of the 16 runners in the startlist for the final did not start the race while two did not finish.
