Cricketers should fall in line, says minister

Sports Minister M S Gill

NEW DELHI: Sports Minister M S Gill has opposed the BCCI stance on the "whereabout" clause of the World Anti-Doping Agency and said the cricketers should fall in line without cribbing.

Dismissing the claim that the clause, which requires players to inform their whereabouts three months in advance for out-of-competition testing, was an infringement on their privacy, Gill said that was not the case.

"We have accepted WADA regulatory testing and we adhere to it. Sportsperson should be clear in one thing that it is not getting into someone's life," Gill told reporters after the state sports ministers' conference here.

The voice of dissent among the cricketers seemed to have surprised the Minister who pointed out that most of the sportspersons across the world have already signed it.

"All sportsperson should adhere to it and happily follow it as so many sports federations and players are following it," Gill said.

The "whereabout" clause of the WADA code has ruffled many feathers here with the BCCI convening an emergency working committee meeting in Mumbai, attended by India captain MS Dhoni and senior players Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh.
After the meeting, BCCI President Shashank Manohar said the Board had no issues with out-of-competition testing of the 11 cricketers in the WADA pool but the "whereabout" clause was not only an infringement of their privacy but also posed security risks.

The BCCI has asked ICC, a WADA signatory, to explore the possibilities of having a separate anti-doping mechanism of its own.

Gill, however, felt that WADA was championing a good cause and every one should support its bid for a dope-free world. -PTI