India to drop foreign coaches amid doping scam

Bangalore: The foreign coaches are under fire as one foreign coach has already been fired and others are under intense scrutiny as the Indian government launches a crackdown on drugs in sport amid a deepening doping crisis, reports C. Rajshekhar Rao from AP Sports. Already eight athletes have been suspended within a week. This included members of the winning Commonwealth and Asian games women's 1,600-meter relay teams, former Olympians and the public have asked the government to intervene. Sports Minister Ajay Maken demanded overhaul the way anti-doping authorities are operating. All coaches are now strict scrutiny. Maken wants the national anti-doping agency to track the movement of performance-enhancing drugs and is asking for more sophisticated border controls. All foreign coaches training athletes who test positive will be removed now. Maken has ordered a full inquiry, led by a retired High Court judge or an official of similar rank. A strict programme will be launched to bring down the culprits of dopping running in the country. Among the athletes are Ashwini Akkunji, Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose, who were all part of the women's relay squads at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games and Guangzhou Asian Games last October and November. Akkunji also won the 400 hurdles at Guangzhou. The relay team was considered India's best hope for a medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Jauna Murmu, Tiana Mary and Priyanka Panwar were other 400 competitors caught for doping, while men's long jumper Hari Krishnan and women's shot putter Sonia Kumari also have been banned. They all tested positive for drugs that help build muscle. Akkunji, Jose, Kumari, Panwar and Krishnan tested positive for methandienone, Murmu and Mary for epimethandiol, and Kaur for the more common stanozolol. Ogorodnik had been with the Indian track and field squad for two years, and had his contract recently renewed after the successes of 2010. He was based in the northern city of Patiala, where the women's 400 runners stayed for national camps. The relay gold in New Delhi last October was India's first on the Commonwealth Games track in 52 years.