World Anti-Doping Agency’s scientific research budget got a massive boost as India pledged USD one million to it, the “highest among contributions made by other world governments.”
India’s donation comes at a time when the country’s anti-doping program has been negatively affected by suspension of its suspended National Dope Testing Laboratory, which is to be inspected by WADA early next year.
With the proposed funding, WADA will be able to develop innovative anti-doping testing and detection methods. WADA’s independent Investigations and Intelligence Department will also be bolstered with the help of the money.
A statement issued by the Sports Ministry says “India’s contribution of is the highest among contributions made by other world governments, including China, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.”
The total contribution of all member nations will be matched by an equal sum by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to create a corpus of USD 10 million.
According to the release, WADA’s Fifth World Conference on Doping in Sport held in Katowice, Poland in 2019 was the place where the decision to build the corpus was made. This contribution is over and above the annual contribution made to WADA’s core budget by India.
“I am happy to share with you that the Government of India is pledging a ‘one-off’ financial support of USD 1 million to this WADA Fund for scientific R&D and (I&I) with the hope that this contribution from India will boost the efforts to achieve the target of USD 10 million for this fund,” Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju wrote to WADA President Witold Banka.
Rijiju had previously marked out the importance of clean sport and the Indian government’s commitment to strengthen the anti-doping programme globally in a video conference with the WADA President on September 8, 2020.
Claiming that the NDTL is now compliant with the world body’s testing regulations, Rijiju had also requested WADA to lift the suspension on it.
Wada thanked India for the contribution.
“This is a massive boost for WADA and for Clean Sport. The agency is grateful to the Government of China, Egypt, India and Saudi Arabia for supporting the protection of sport in this way,” WADA chief Witold Banka said.
“These generous contributions can be seen as a strong commitment from these nations and will be put to good use enhancing scientific research, as well as the work of WADA’s independent (I&I) department.
“Both areas have delivered significant achievements in recent years and these additional resources will contribute greatly towards WADA’s mission for doping-free sport.”