Cricket's Olympic dream rests on signing WADA code

New Delhi: Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) decision not to sign World Anti-Doping Agency code earned the wrath Union Sports Minister MS Gill said that as far as he was concerned everyone has to follow the system put in place by the anti-doping body.

Some reports claim that the BCCI will propose to the International Cricket Council (ICC) that it should walk out of WADA umbrella altogether but if that happes cricket's dream of featuring at the Olympics go bust.

Even as the BCCI has refused to sign the WADA anti-doping code over the 'Whereabouts Clause' the refusal to sign up has left the Indian cricket board in a tricky situation. The board now knows a way forward needs to found as well.

Sources say among the suggestions being put forward is to come up with a cricket-specific anti-doping code.

The proposal could be made as early as October at a meeting of the ICC's Executive Board. BCCI boss Shashank Manohar hinted at the media interaction on Sunday that there wasn't any compulsion to fall in line with the WADA code saying, "WADA is just a private agency".

Privately, BCCI officials are admitting that it was a mistake to agree to the code in 2006 as the players were given the impression that testing would be only in competition and training and not during the off-season.

"Off season is our private time, We don't want to say where we are," says all-rounder Yuvraj Singh.

So what's next?

It's clear that WADA won't change its rules just because of BCCI objections. They argue that 571 sporting bodies across the world have signed up.

"WADA expects that Indian cricketers and the BCCI will understand that, as the ambassadors and guardians of their sport, they have a duty to protect its integrity and will see the benefits of cooperating with the ICC to enforce the World Anti-Doping Code like the rest of the world," WADA chief John Fahey said.

Unless cricket is fully WADA compliant, it cannot feature at the Olympics, which has been spoken of as one of the long term ambitions of the game to establish a truly global presence.

(With inputs from Roma Khanna and Rupha Ramani)