15 athletes from this year's Khelo India Youth Games fail dope test

The biggest ever doping case has been reported in the Khelo India Youth Games. In this year's edition held in Guwahati from January 10 to 22, 15 players have been found positive in dope tests, according to a report by Hindi daily Amar Ujala. In the first Khelo India Games held in Delhi, 11 and then in Pune, nine players were found positive in dope test. Most of these players involved in dope are gold-medal winners and minors. NADA has imposed a temporary ban on players caught in dope for steroid, while some players have not been temporarily banned for being found positive for specifiable substances.

The players found positive in the dope test, include four weightlifters, four wrestlers, three in kabaddi players and the rest in athletics, football, volleyball and boxing. Sample anabolic steroid has been found in most of these players. Some players have been asked for a B sample test, but their tests have not been held due to the lockdown.

In these games, 346 dope samples were taken by NADA, which were sent to the Doha (Qatar) lab for testing. The Khelo India Youth Games is a flagship program under Ministry of Sports and Sports Authority of India. High-level training is imparted to the players who have shown the best performance in this event with a stipend of Rs. 50,000 per month from the government. Only after the lockdown opens, these players will get a chance to appear before the NADA Hearing Panel to prove their innocence.