Athletes from India will comply with stricter anti-doping requirements after the national federation was placed in the highest risk category of World Athletics — the international body that governs world athletics, the Athletics Integrity Unit reported this Monday (20).
The country was among the two with the highest number of violations between 2022 and 2025which led the AIU board to downgrade Athletics Federation of India from Category B to Category A.
Federations falling into Category A — considered maximum risk — now have stricter obligations, including the requirement for a minimum number of tests on national team athletes, according to the AIU.
“The doping situation in India has long been high risk and, unfortunately, the quality of the domestic anti-doping program is not commensurate with this risk,” AIU President David Howman said in a statement.
“The AFI has advocated for anti-doping reforms within the country, but there have not been enough changes. The AIU will now work with the federation to implement reforms that ensure the integrity of athletics, as we have done with other Category A federations,” he added.
India, which will host the 2030 Commonwealth Games and calls for hosting the 2036 Olympic Gameshas also topped the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of doping offenders for three consecutive years.
WADA President Witold Bańka was in the country last week and classified the easy availability of performance-enhancing substances as a “serious problem”. He met with Indian federal police officials to seek support in disrupting supply chains.
AFI spokesperson, Adille Sumariwalla said that the entity works together with the AIU, the and India’s national anti-doping agency to tackle the problem.
“The AFI has a solid plan and we advocate the criminalization of doping in the country,” Sumariwalla told Reutersby phone. “There’s no problem with more oversight. More athletes are being caught because more tests are being carried out.”
“We are fighting this with all our might. The criminals involved must be contained by the police. We are not the police; our role is to formulate policies, and the government is helping,” he added.
When an Indian delegation visited the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne last year, received guidance to contain the doping problem to strengthen .
