ICC forms committee to resolve doping row
The ICC has formed a committee to resolve the concerns of the Indian board regarding the controversial 'whereabouts' clause of the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) code
Cricinfo staff
06-Aug-2009
Anil Kumble is part of the panel formed by the ICC to address the Indian players' concerns • AFP
The ICC has formed a committee to resolve the concerns of the Indian board regarding the controversial 'whereabouts' clause of the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) code.
The International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP) working group will be chaired by Tim Kerr, chairman of ICC Anti-Doping panel, and also includes ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, ICC principal advisor IS Bindra and former India captain Anil Kumble, who sits on WADA's Athlete Committee.
Eleven Indian players are in the ICC's drug testing pool, and they have raised concerns about the clause, which requires them to inform the ICC at the beginning of every quarter (three-month period) of the year, a location and time that they will be available for an hour each day in that quarter for testing. The BCCI and the players were worried about security risks involved in providing whereabouts information in advance and have also said that the clause is a violation of privacy statutes.
No dates have yet been set for a meeting of the IRTP panel, which was formed after the BCCI announced on Sunday that it would not require its players to file the 'whereabouts' information. WADA has been invited to send a representative to advice the panel.
Lorgat reiterated that the ICC and the Indian board were keen to resolve the impasse at the earliest. "I am pleased we have constituted this group as I believe it will help to resolve the practical concerns of India players," Lorgat said. "All of us - the ICC and its members including India - are committed to a zero-tolerance approach in the area of anti-doping."
The BCCI and the Indian board faced plenty of flak for their decision to not abide by the WADA code, including the country's sports minister. Cricketers from all other countries and India's top athletes have accepted the anti-doping regulations.
One of the BCCI's suggestions for solving the problem was to introduce a new cricket-specific code, and asking the ICC to walk out of the WADA umbrella.