Khelo India Beach Games 2025 in Diu becomes an anti-doping awareness centre, hundreds of athletes set to benefit

The National Anti-Doping Agency in India (NADA) is doing its work to good effect. The 2025 Khelo India Beach Games (KIBG) are underway in Diu since May 19, and Dr Usha Subhash Nikumbh, who is the Lead Dope Control Officer (LDCO) at NADA, is spreading the anti-doing message at the scenic Ghoghla Beach, the venue for the Beach Games, with the help of a score of volunteers. On Friday, they went to every sporting event on the beach and distributed informative colourful pamphlets in Hindi and English on the dos and don’ts for athletes.

“We started this initiative in 2018. The idea was to make athletes aware of what all they needed to do to stay clean,” Dr Nikumbh informed SAI Media. “We go from event to event, from national championship to even academies and institutes. We were also at the recently concluded Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) in Bihar.

“And since we have started this program, there is better awareness among athletes than before and fewer cases of breach too,” she added. Dr Usha and her volunteers distributed four loose pamphlets, titled: All About Whereabouts, Be A Fair Play Ambassador, Keep the Best Food Forward and It Is Your Call.

The “All About Whereabouts” sheds light on what athletes in the Registered Testing Pool (RTP) need to do first and foremost about their whereabouts. Like they need to submit their whereabouts information like the home address, email id, phone number, overnight accommodation address, where they are and doing what all through their day along with locations and time, their competition schedules as well as a 60-minute time slot for each day where they will be available and accessible for testing.

What athletes, coaches and parents need to do?

Under “Be A Fair Play Ambassador”, there is information in regard to what athletes, coaches and parents need to do. For athletes, it is “train and compete clean”, “refrain from prohibited substances and methods”, “submit your samples in time”, and “speak up if you come across Anting Doping Rule Violations (ADRV)”.

For coaches, it’s “educate your athletes about prohibited substances and methods”, “explain the importance of the doping control process”, “stay away from people serving a sanction”, and “speak up if you come across ADRV”. For parents, it’s “inculcate the virtues of competing clean”, “educate your children about ADRV”, “Encourage them to stay away from prohibited sentences”, and “speak up if you come across ADRV.”

Under “It Is Your Call,” the NADA stresses the importance of collective responsibility in order to do away with doping breaches, including calling out dishonourable acts and the offenders.

In the fourth pamphlet “Keep the Best Food Forward”, the NADA tries to dissuade athletes from taking supplements; for, they may have banned substances with the labels not showing them besides the side effects. Basically, the message is: don’t rely on supplements, go natural and eat and sleep well and stay hydrated.

Close to 1000 athletes from 31 states and Union Territories in India participated in the Khelo India Beach Games 2025 across six sports – pencak silat, beach soccer, beach volleyball, sepak takraw, open water swimming and beach kabaddi besides mallakhamb and tug of war as demonstration sport.