New Delhi:
It is the responsibility of the athletes to know more about the doping menace to keep their career taint-free and help India avoid any embarrassment, according the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Vice Chairman Randhir Singh.
Randhir's comments came on a day when the country, just a month before Commonwealth Games, faced a major embarrassment with four athletes, including three in CWG squad, failing their 'B' sample dope tests.
Randhir said that educational programmes and policing should be carried out simultaneously to help the athletes know more about doping.
"Education and policing must be done simultaneously to make the athletes aware about the bad implications of doping. The Indian Olympic Association is playing its role to avoid doping but at the same time it is also responsibility of the players to be aware of the menace," Randhir told reporters here today.
"As a sportsman, I would say the athletes themselves are responsible for the incidents. Neither Federations nor the IOA nor SAI would be disturbed but its only their career which will be hampered.
"The person has to wake up and look after himself and they themselves should know what they are using. Its something they have to be aware of because it hampers the players' health, career as well as the future," said Randhir, also an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member.
CWG-bound swimmers - Richa Mishra and Jyotsana Pansare -and a shot putter Saurabh Vij were among the athletes whose 'B' samples test today came positive for methylhexaneamine.
Haryana discus thrower Aakash Antil, who was not in the Games squad, also failed his 'B' sample test for the same substance.
Randhir said that it is just not possible that nobody knew what medicines the athletes were consuming and whether they are banned by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).
"I think, its not possible that nobody knows what the athletes are consuming. If all the 11 players are consuming the same medicine and nobody knows, then its ridiculous. They surely knew about it," said Randhir, who is also a former India shooter.
"Doping is a big menace for us and a very unfortunate thing. its not just about India but the condition is same everywhere in the world. This thing has become a big menace and we have to fight it - no shotcut," he added.
Woman weightlifter Sanamacha Chanu, who was added in the Commonwealth Games core group last year but did not make it to the final squad announced last month, also tested positive for methylhexaneamine in the National Anti Doping Agency test.
Asked about the preparation for the Games, Randhir said, "We are in the final stage of preparation and like to see the debris being cleared out, its all being brought outside (the stadium). Today, by the end of the day most of the debris will be cleared. We are well on target."
He also dismissed the reports that there were some problems on the tracks at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
"There is no problem at all, we tested the balloon also and that has to go up. So everything is under control.
"The only thing is we are now waiting for the athletes to come, see and practice. The field of play is looking excellent and all the things are coming up on logistic and technical side also. So everything is good, nothing to worry about," he added.