The big bad world of doping

Vishal Uppal brings in a quick read to satisfy your curiosity on doping in sports

The split-second difference between win and loss has always intimidated athletes in competitive sports. The stamina, perseverance and an ability to hold the nerves in moment of time is a challenge for even the best trained athletes. The guiding emotion to win for the native country is overbearing for the athletes. The same emotion along with ambition to perform better than the competition pushes some athletes to consume substances that improve physical performance. The term doping is not news to anyone. Doping is not a new concept and existed since ancient times. Herbal decoctions, stimulants and nutritional aids existed from time immemorial. The warrior tribes consumed them for physical prowess. Classical medicine systems in India, China and Greece have a repertoire of herbs and salts that enhances performance. Ginseng, Mumijo and many other herbs are known to increase oxygen supply in blood. In modern day doping, steroids and hormones are taken to fuel the muscles. It is not always the athlete's choice to take banned drugs. It is sometimes a systematic plan driven from the government. You will read about the Russian doping scandal and how it turned out as systematic plan. The honest teams relied on nutritional supplementation and equipment tweaking to enhance athlete's performance. However, growing competition made way for corrupt form of achieving the means.

The biggest doping scandal of all time came to light when Yuliya Stepanova, a former Russian athlete revealed the culture of doping in Russia. Upon investigations, it was found that as many as 1400 urine samples of athletes were knowingly destroyed or manipulated to cover up the culture of consuming performance enhancing drugs. The players, coaches and government officials were found party to systematic doping. Russia has had 43 Olympics medals stripped for doping violations. Russian Track and Field Federation was banned from 2016 Rio Olympics and other world championships. Russia was suspended from athletics, weightlifting, paralympic sports but has continued to participate in other sports. IAAF has allowed Russians who have undergone testing by non-Russian agencies to compete as neutral athletes.

The doping scandal had a devastating effect on honest and deserving athletes. Mariya Lasitskene, a Russian High jumper was barred to participate in Rio Olympics. She was ranked World Number One and was considered favorite to win a gold. She has participated under neutral flag as per guidelines of IAAF since then. She won gold in 2017 World Championships. We can expect her to be favorite in Tokyo Olympics.

Athletes come under lens from time to time. Another notorious doping scandal came to light from Tour de France cycling event. Lance Armstrong, infamous for the biggest doping scandal was stripped of his seven titles over drug use. In addition, many winners including Alberto Contador, Floyd Landis, Marco Pantani, Jan Ullrich and Bjarne Riis have been caught in doping scandals. The recent was Chris Froome, a four time winner, was tested positive for double the level of allowable asthma drug in 2017.

There are times when a player can get disqualified for taking medication for a physical ailment. In July 2019, Delhi Capitals (DC) batsman, Prithvi Shaw was suspended for doping violation. He was not allowed to play Indian Premier League T20 eliminator match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SH). The urine sample he gave in February was found to contain Terbutaline. Terbutaline is a prohibited substance in WADA's prohibited list of substances. It was later found that he took Terbutaline as prescription medicine for Respiratory Tract Infection and not as performance enhancing drug. But despite that, he will not be able to play till mid of November.

The stringent guidelines, testing and penalties have deterred athletes to try the prohibited substances. However, doping is going to stay in forms that may not be detectable by tests in future. But in a fair game, an athlete must be honest to withhold his integrity and integrity of the sports.

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The present and future of sports coaching in India

Vishal Uppal assesses the state of coaching in urban and rural India.

The success of a player primarily depends on coaching. A player needs coaching at every stage. A good coach works on multiple aspects. The fitness, diet, technique, execution and strategy required to play a particular sport is devised by a coach. Successful players have publicly admitted the role of their coaches and their coaching. The standard of coaching has drastically risen in last two decades. Coaching is now available at every level. The gradual rise in quality and availability of coaching can be attributed to multiple factors.

The first factor is inspiring performance of Indian sports fraternity on world stage. Indians players are winning medals and are being ranked in top few in certain sports. India is doing exceptionally good in Cricket, Hockey, Badminton, Tennis, Table Tennis, Boxing, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Shooting, Archery, Gymnastics and Athletics. Children as young as five are aspiring to learn and excel in sports. Parents are now seeking services of coaches to train their kids from elementary level. This has opened avenues for coaches. The coaches who worked only in academic institutions now run their sports coaching classes to supplement their income and train the aspirants. The sportsmen who were not able to make it higher levels are now working as full time elementary coaches.

The second factor is availability of sporting infrastructure. The boom in sectors such as Information Technology has brought people in IT hubs. This led to development of condominium complexes. These housing complexes are equipped with basic infrastructure that is helping children work on their basic skills. A good housing complex has swimming pool, badminton court, squash court, volleyball court and many other based on the how premium is the complex. In addition, municipalities in Tier A and Tier B cities in India have developed sports facilities that provide skating rinks, large grounds for hosting cricket and soccer tournaments and indoor halls for practicing badminton and table tennis. These facilities also host summer and winter camps for coaching players. In addition, big sports equipment merchandisers have opened courts in and around malls in Metropolitan cities. Decathlon stores in India have provided courts for practicing basketball, hockey, skating and other popular sports. 

The veteran wrestlers in village gymnasiums are training entrants to compete at village, district and state level. Most wrestling champions are a gift of traditional training methodology where the teacher and pupil share a deep bond. As emphasis on sports is increasing, the villages are churning out sportsmen trained in traditional sports.

The good part is opening up of specialist training academies. These academies are being opened by retired sports personalities and are contributing by training men and women in competitive sports. Some of these academies are meant for training the learners for international level. The Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad is headed by Pullela Gopichand. The academy has produced current and former world number one shuttlers; P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal. The cricket academies like National Cricket Academy headed by Anil Kumble; Vengsarkar Cricket Academy founded by Dilip Vengsarkar; Sehwag Cricket Academy run by Virender Sehwag and many other similar academies are imparting quality coaching in Cricket. However, India is still dependent on foreign coaches and academies in foreign countries for specialized coaching in hockey, tennis, archery and shooting. But as former players are hosting camps and venturing into coaching, the dependence will reduce in coming years.

The future of sports coaching in India is on rise and young men and women can definitely get into it. It is a sunshine sector as Indians are keen to get into sporting careers. The coaching profession has scope for making sustainable income; it also presents an opportunity to serve community and nation and finally it is a profession that brings job satisfaction. It is thrilling to see your students grow and win.

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The success of Indian women in sports is an inspiration for others to come out and win. The contributions from Indian women sports fraternity are bound to increase.

Vishal Uppal present the story of women who broke the shackles of conservatism and emerged as winners.

The role of women in societies marred with conservatism was limited to domestic chores. Women remained in shackles of home, caring for family throughout their life. Even the educated and employed women led a role of supporting the family and caring for their needs. The society in India believed in defined roles for men and women from centuries. There were only countable women who broke out of role stereotype and ventured into unknown fields. However, these women were from affluent background and got patronage from their parents or their community. Some communities in India were liberal in their outlook and supported their women in their endeavors. In pre independence era, there were women who ventured into difficult realms like flying. Few Anglo-Indian women participated in Wimbledon and even won matches. However, there were few women in sports. The pre independence era only witnessed nomad women who worked as gymnasts or trapeze artists in circus companies but there were hardly any women in competitive sports. Even after four decades of independence, there were hardly any women in sports. P T Usha sowed the seeds and became one of the greatest athletes in India. She won 13 gold medals in Asian games and Asian meets. She dominated the athletics scene in 1980s. An ordinary girl became inspiration for many female athletes. Anju Bobby George, another athlete, represented India internationally in athletics meets in 1990s and early 2000. Now India is proud to have Hima Das. Hima is bagging gold at several International meets in the categories she participates.

The real acclaim came when Indian women started bagging individual medals in Commonwealth games, Olympics and other World Championships. Indian women surpassed men and won medals that became dry after the end of golden spell of Indian Hockey Team in Olympics. In 2000,  Karnam Malleswari bagged India's first individual medal in Olympics. She bagged bronze in weightlifting.This was just a beginning. India won Olympic bronze through efforts of M C Mary Kom in boxing and Sakshi Malik in wrestling. P V Sidhu won Silver in badminton in 2016 Olympics and later became world number one in badminton. There are notable female players who remained top ranked in the world. Saina Nehwal reached World Number 1 rank in Badminton in 2015 and Deepika Kumari in Archery in 2012. Sania Mirza was rated India’s top ranked tennis player by WTA in singles and doubles tennis for almost a decade. Dipa Kamrakar is another world record holder in gymnastics. She successfully landed the Produnova, which is regarded as the most difficult vault performed in women's gymnastics. The lesser-known squash player, Dipika Pallikal became the first Indian Squash player to break into top 10 in the PSA Women's ranking. She is spouse of  Dinesh Karthik, who is a well known cricketer.

Those who have seen the movie Dangal can visualise the glory of Geeta Phogat. She became the first woman to win gold in wrestling for India. The breakthrough came in 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. Geeta Phogat became synonymous with girls who are coming out from most feudal and patriarchal regions of the country. Her father, Mahavir Phogat is a true hero as he coached and mentored his three daughters in wrestling. His vision to see his daughters out of traditional role is remarkable.

In a Cricket loving country, it is worth to mention the names of Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur. Both of these cricketers are winning accolades and wins in international women's cricket matches.

In a society, where government is still trying to teach through slogans of "Beti Bachao Beti Padao" meaning "Save Daughters Teach Daughters", the women sports fraternity is setting a living example for parents to nurture their daughters and let them pursue the stars.

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The good things are finally pouring for gender diverse sports persons. Positive steps by sporting bodies are helping transgender and gender diverse people participate in competitive sports.

Vishal Uppal explores the gender identity/expression issues and how anti-discrimination policies are breaking stereotyping, and discrimination based on gender identity.

The August brought good news for transgender and gender diverse cricketers when Cricket Australia announced its inclusivity policy. An Elite Cricket Policy and Guidelines for Community Cricket will facilitate support for players who elect to participate in cricket in line with their gender identity. It excludes the criteria of identification of sex at the time of birth.

The one positive step will help create the inclusive environment that will be free from gender stereotyping, harassment and discrimination for gender nonconforming players at entry level. Such measures also sensitize players, coaches, volunteers and support staff to forego biases based on gender identity.

A similar step was taken by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) of USA in 2011. The association adopted bylaws to accommodate transgendered athletes. The eligibility criteria for participation were made simpler. However, the complications are still there for athletes using the hormones. An athlete on hormone has to take medical clearance and NCAA approval before being allowed to compete. So if an athlete is on testosterone regimen then discrimination is still there as complexity is there for female-to-male (FTM) athlete to be included in female category or male category. It will take time when we may see a category for athletes under sex transition.

The eligibility requirements adopted by international and local athletic foundations are the same.  The sportsperson who is legally and hormonally female is allowed to compete in women’s events. A trans-woman is allowed to compete as female athlete after one year of beginning testosterone suppression treatment. The evolution of eligibility criteria will see transformation as complex issues will surface for consideration and resolution.

As anti-discrimination policies to accommodate transgendered people by employers and government bodies are coming to force, we will see a trickle-down effect in all sports governing bodies and acceptance will come for their inclusion in common shower areas, changing areas and toilet areas.

There is great deal of acceptance that needs to come from public for LGBTQ sports persons. I strongly believe that sport is one of the disciplines that will widen the acceptance of gender diverse and people with different sexual preference in other spheres. 

There have been notable transgender and LGBTQ people in sports.

You can explore the list at

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_people_in_sports

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT_sportspeople

The transgender and gender diverse sports persons are equally strong and equipped. They are participating in every sport from professional golfing to professional boxing. Most of us know about Renee Richards who coached Martina Navratilova in Tennis or Fallon Fox who displayed her mettle in mixed martial arts. Heidi Krieger who was a shot putter from East Germany competed as woman and later transitioned to man as she was given too much steroids by her coaches without her knowledge. Sometimes, things are accidental but inclusive anti-discriminatory policies can help gender diverse players compete on equal footing with regular players.

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It’s high time to set wrong to right. Bad umpiring is on rise and what can be done to correct it.

Vishal Uppal analyses the reasons behind sudden spurt in wrong umpiring decision. It can be attributed to over dependence on technology; but there are many factors that are contributing to poor umpiring decisions.

There was a time when decisions on the field were solely made by the umpires. The players trusted the umpires for their neutrality and keen eye for detail. A cricket lover can tell you the contribution of umpires who left the permanent mark in umpiring history. David Shepherd was loved and respected by players for his decision making ability and we never saw any player arguing with him on any of his decisions. Dickie Bird, Simon Taufel and Srinivas Venkatraghavan commanded the same respect from players. Their names became synonymous with umpiring. However, cricket, though a gentlemen game suffered through bad umpiring. It can be traced back to the last three decades of previous century. There were numerous decisions of biased and faulty umpiring by umpires who might have gained pennies through it. Neutral umpiring gained prominence with strengthening of International Cricketing body, ICC, but it was absent during 80s and some of part of 90s. The ugly face can be seen in India Vs Pakistan matches in Sharjah in 80s. Shakoor Rana was famous for his argument with Mike Gatting and Jeremy Coney and his decisions that went in favor of Javed Miandad and players of Pakistan team. Darrel Hair was known for his dubious decisions and the most controversial of all umpires was Steve Bucknor. Though regarded as one of the best, he has maximum number of altercations with players and captains of cricketing sides.

Bad umpiring in current form is costing matches to the teams. Though, an umpiring decision can be reviewed and reversed, the instances of team not opting for review or with review option expired has led to an entire match thrown in favor of other team. In a match between Pakistan and Afghanistan in ICC World Cup 2019, Rashid Khan trapped Imad Wasim in front when he was on 1. The scorecard at that moment was 145 for 5. The umpire ruled it not out. The replay clearly showed that the ball trajectory had met the required criteria to be given out. Imad Wasim survived and produced a match-winning knock of unbeaten 49.

In the first match of Ashes 2019 Test series, there were 7 wrong umpiring decisions with 5 being overturned by DRS. The performance of umpires came under intense scrutiny. Aleem Dar and Joel Wilson created a bad taste for teams and fans. Both were pounded on twitter for the alarming number of wrong decisions.

Why is it happening? The number one reason is use of technology. Umpires are probably not paying attention due to the fact that technology will help them if they fail. In the time when technology was limited to stump mic and television cameras, the umpires had to concentrate on each detail from ball being thrown and how it went towards the batsman. With extensive use of high speed cameras, drones, 3D models, UltraEdge audio and heat detectors, the umpires consider them as full umpiring gear. On the contrary, the umpire must consider technology as helper rather than part of umpiring package.

The second reason for bad umpiring is lack of experience. Most of the well known umpires like David Shepherd and Simon Taufel were first class cricketers. They had to leave cricket due to injury. Their grasp of the field was impeccable. This made them world class umpires. Most of the current lot have not played cricket at international or county level. This lack of experience shows at crucial decision like edging and caught before leg.

The third and final reason is the environment. The current form of cricket is aggressive. The pressure to win is high as leagues like IPL have huge money involved. The batsmen play all kind of weird and non conventional shorts to score runs. This puts tremendous pressure on umpires. The bright lights, the white ball thrown at exceptional speed at white bat, the flashing advertising boards, the players wearing loud colored outfit and noisy crowd creates a vision blur for the umpires. For umpires of old era, the grounds were not crowded, the advertising boards were simple, the matches were played during the day and finding a red ball edging out of white bat was comparatively  simple.

The solution to the bad umpiring affair is to fix the surroundings as well a coaching the umpires on sharpening senses to judge better. Training former league players to become umpires can also help the sport. Cricket fans love umpires as they love their teams. We will never want Artificial Intelligence to replace human umpiring. I hope this phase of bad umpiring will pass. Positive steps by governing bodies will fix the problem of bad umpiring.

Sandpapergate to Ashes

Vishal Uppal takes a dig on the event that rocked Australian Cricket in 2018 and the exhilarating comeback of banned players in 2019. 

Australian Cricket has always been in limelight for wrong reasons. Australian Cricket formed commercial relationships with betting agencies. They have been accused of match fixing in International matches. Finally, sledging and ball tampering have stained the team on moral pedestal. Sledging matters, as Australian players take it to the point where adherence to code of ethics becomes questionable.  Cheating is not unusual in sports but it brings disgrace and serious consequences if proven with evidence. Australian Cricket experienced exactly the same in early part of 2018. It was hit hard by ball tampering scandal that later came to be known as Sandpapergate scandal. Cameron Bancroft was caught rubbing the ball with sandpaper during a test match with South Africa. The moment was captured by television cameras in vivid details. The live broadcast was for everyone to see. Captain Steve Smith and Vice-captain David Warner were identified for having prior knowledge of tampering. Steve Smith and David Warner faced a ban of twelve months from International Cricket. Bancroft, who applied the sandpaper to the ball, faced nine month suspension from the sport. Not only did they lose grace, they also lost commercial and playing contracts. The names of three players didn’t appeared in national contracts for 2018-19 and they were banned from playing 2018 edition of IPL, which otherwise would have ensured sum of 2 to 3 million dollars for the players.

Tampering has happened before and several star bowlers have been known to do it with one way or the other. But the cameras catching the tiny piece of sandpaper tainted the reputation of revered Australian cricketers. The prime minister of Australia had to offer a statement on the scandal.

The silver lining to such events is the learning. All the three players have made the Test returns with the first Ashes Test Match that took place in Edgbaston from August 1 to 5. After a great performance in ICC World Cup 2019, it was a dream comeback for Steve Smith. He scored 144 in first innings and 142 in second innings. Steve said that “It’s incredibly special. It feels like Christmas morning every morning getting to come and do this” . But it was not all good in the beginning. The players were booed by audience in several world cup matches. We saw Virat Kohli urging fans to stop booing Steve Smith in the match between India and Australia in ICC World Cup 2019. The gesture later became a headline in the sport. Though, we have yet to see some miracle from David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, the next four matches in Ashes series can unfold the openers doing some excellent batting.

Can India qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2022? Why there is a sudden surge of hope for India making to Qatar 2022.

Vishal Uppal assesses the state of sports in the country and prospects of Indian Football team in the qualifiers.

The football in India is like a rare fever. It arrives once in four years. The jerseys of popular players can be spotted on display windows of outlets of sportswear brands. You can find youngsters siding with contending teams by wearing their jerseys and watching the matches with mugs of beer in bars in metropolitan cities. The frenzy is fuelled by media which for most of the year promotes Cricket but switches to football owning to promotion meant for merchandise sales. You can also spot youngsters getting coached in football and playing in grounds that only see cricket for most part of the year.

However, the fan following and awareness of football is increasing by leaps and bounds. Football is highly popular in few states in India. West Bengal, north eastern and southern states take particular interest in football. The football in India has been dominated by clubs sponsored by patron industrial houses. The oldest club is Mohun Bagan A.C. and it is in existence since 1889. East Bengal F.C., Churchill Brothers F.C. of Goa and few others are popular clubs in India. They compete in League Football and Durand Cup.

The football fraternity and fans are suddenly taking a notice at Indian Football team. The team is performing well and beating or drawing with Asian teams for some time. The hope for India qualifying for FIFA World Cup 2022 to be hosted in Qatar is on upsurge. This came after India got placed in Group E in second round Asian Qualifiers. The matches will start from September 5. The team is clubbed with teams of Qatar, Oman, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Qatar is already qualified for the World Cup because of being a host. India is seen as better side in matches against Afghanistan and Bangladesh. India can also beat or draw with Qatar and Oman in its reigning form.  

Indian Head Coach Igor Stimac said that "It will be an enormous challenge for your young team. We have been drawn into a very tough group". He later said that “we need to respect every opposition”.

Football fans in India are almost sure of India moving to third qualifying round that will begin in September 2020. The task to play in FIFA World Cup will be tougher in third round as India may have to play strong teams like Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan and Australia. The two top teams in this qualifier will get a ticket to FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The fourth round that starts in October 2021 will provide opportunity to teams placed third in each group. But before we think of fourth and fifth round we have to see how India cruises through second and third round.

It is a tough road and India playing in FIFA World Cup 2022 is still unrealistic. However, we can hope considering how teams improve with each passing match. The dream can also become reality if Indian origin players playing in European Leagues can be convinced to play for India in near future. But considering the improvement in overall facets of sporting in India, the chances of hearing national anthem in coming World Cups are bright. I wish Sunil Chhetri and his team best of luck for second round qualifiers and hope to see them moving into third round.

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Description: Sunil Chhetri and Anirudh Thapa celebrating a goal in their group match against Thailand at 2019 AFC Asian Cup