The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) agreed to come under the ambit of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA). There had been conflicts between both the bodies for some time, with the Indian board offering a provision to follow the NADA guidelines on a “trial basis.” However, such requests were denied.
This landmark decision makes Indian Cricket’s governing body a sports federation as per government norms despite being financially autonomous.
The implication of this development is expected to be considerable as BCCI now becomes a designated National Sports Federation and will face more pressure to come under the government’s Right to Information Act.
The BCCI had been strongly opposing signing up with NADA, calling itself an autonomous body, and not a National Sports Federation which relies on government funding. The sports ministry had been steadfast in maintaining that the BCCI had to come under the NADA ambit
It was speculated that this was done to pressurise BCCI into accepting anti-doping norms.