Bcci-wada Row

[Guest]

A sample of Indian response.

http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMO...tType=EDITORIAL

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Interestingly, ICC president designate Sharad Pawar stayed away from the BCCI meeting which discussed the issue. <b>Sources said DDCA president and ace lawyer Arun Jaitley helped draft the Board’s response to WADA. The BCCI called the controversial clause a violation of Article 21, which guarantees personal liberty to all Indian citizens.</b>

Senior sports ministry officials wonder how Jaitley could have made such a gaffe. “The government of India is a signatory to the Copenhagen declaration on anti-doping in sport,” said an official. “How can a convention that India is committed to abide by violate the fundamental rights of our citizens?” <b>Moreover, the declaration was passed in March 2003; the BJP was in power then and Jaitley was a minister. </b>To date, 192 countries have signed the declaration.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

And if the declaration was passed under BJP was in power, how the heck does it matter ? Is it even an argument ? If it is violating article 21 then it is violating article 21.

and then these gems... the typical sarkari response.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->According to a senior official, the government may rein in the BCCI by running random dope tests during the Indian Premier League’s third season. “NADA can run random tests in any domestic championship,” said the source. The BCCI had described the IPL as a domestic tournament with international players.

<b>Many think the BCCI might give the slip yet again as it considers itself beyond government control. Especially as the Board does not come under the Indian Olympic Association and does not rely on the sports ministry for funds</b>. The only time the BCCI goes to the government is when it needs security cover for visiting teams or for obtaining clearance for its tours abroad.

But the Centre, too, seems unrelenting this time. A senior sports ministry official said, <b>“It does not take much for the government to make the BCCI fall in line. Sport is a state subject, but the Centre can enact a law to ensure compliance with international obligations. We have kept all our options open.</b>” The official called the current situation an “educative stage”. “In the case of Olympic sports we have a very high level of monitoring compliance,” he said. “As for non-Olympic sports, we try to persuade the federation and make them aware.”<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->