Sports minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday welcomed BCCI’s decision to come under the ambit of National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), terming it a major step towards clean and transparent governance in sports. Having stalled the ministry’s near decade long attempts to bring BCCI under the NADA fold, the Board finally relented on Friday, a move that could have far-reaching implications in the near future. Rijiju termed the development as a major positive turn of events. “I don’t want any issues or matter to remain unresolved. All the differences must be resolved amicably because I believe in clean and transparent governance in Sports in the interest of the sports and sports persons,” Rijiju said. The BCCI didn’t come under NADA all this while as they feared that their autonomy would get hurt. The leading cricketers under their aegis had also protested about the contentious ‘Whereabouts Clause’ related to Out Of Competition (OOC) testing, fearing that their privacy would be compromised. However, during a meeting between BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and sports secretary Radhe Shyam Julaniya, the apprehensions were put to rest as they agreed to be compliant under the anti-doping code. “I explained to BCCI you don’t have a discretion to abide by law or not. The law applies to everyone equally,” Julaniya said after the landmark development following a meeting with the BCCI officials. “Every federation is on the same footing for enforcement of law. You don’t have to sign an agreement. We categorically told them no MOU is required as law is applicable to everyone,” he had said.
