In a significant step that could boost the country’s efforts to curb the abuse of banned performance-enhancing substances by athletes, the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) has received approval from the World Anti-Doping Agency to manage the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) of Indian athletes,

The approval was granted on December 6, according to a release from the Union Sports Ministry.

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The ABP is an advanced anti-doping tool that monitors an athlete’s biological markers over time, which include blood and steroid profiles. This helps to ensure fair play in sports and to protect clean athletes. According to the WADA website, ABP is currently composed of two modules — haematological and steroidal.
Haematological module considers a panel of biomarkers of blood doping that are measured in athletes blood samples. The steroidal module considers a panel of biomarkers of steroid doping measured in athletes’ urine samples.

“The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has granted approval for the NDTL, New Delhi on 6th December 2024, as an Athlete Passport Management Unit (APMU) to manage the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP),” a PIB release said.

“This milestone marks a significant achievement for India in advancing its anti-doping initiatives. Now, India is part of a group of 17 APMUs approved by WADA worldwide.

“India’s APMU would serve the country as well as the anti-doping organisations of neighbouring countries.”

The NDTL has been engaging in dope testing since 1991, and WADA’s approval to manage ABP will further strengthen NDTL’s credibility as a key player in the world fighting against the menace. The WADA suspended its accreditation of the NDTL in 2019 due to non-conformities with the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL) but restored the accreditation in 2021.

Currently, there are 30 WADA-accredited laboratories in the world for dope testing.