New Delhi: Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports MS Gill has supported the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) after the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) backed its players' refusal to sign up the directive. “WADA’s ‘whereabout’ clause is not an infringement on players' privacy. All sportspersons should cooperate with them,” Gill said. The minister said this while addressing the media during a conference of State Ministers of Youth Affairs and Sports in the national capital New Delhi on Monday. Gill further said that the ministry completely supports the world Olympic body. “Our view is to support the world Olympic body, this was mentioned by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge, at the Beijing opening ceremony also because the world is concerned about dope and its problems for sports people. And, we support it,” Gill said. Controversy has been mounting following the WADA's contentious 'whereabouts' clause in the anti-doping code, as BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India ) and India 's top cricketers have raised objection. The players have refused to disclose their whereabouts in advance as required in the clause, terming it as unjust and infringement on the players’ right to privacy. “If anybody has any technical argument, they should certainly talk about it with WADA, and I am sure WADA will try to adjust but it won't be done, as I can guess, for a set of people only. It will be done for the sportsmen of the world,” Gill said.

Gill’s advice on signing of WADA is his ‘personal view’: BCCI

     New Delhi: Board of Control for Cricket in India on Monday termed Sports Minister M S Gill's view that cricketers should sign the World Anti-Doping Agency clause as his personal opinion and claimed that the Cricket Board would stick to its own stance. Reacting over Gill's comments, BCCI spokesman Shukla said the matter was now between BCCI and ICC and there was no need to raise the issue with the Sports Ministry. "The Sports Minister has got his personal view on the subject but we at BCCI have taken a position which ensures what is promised in the Indian constitution," Shukla told mediamen. The "whereabout" clause of the WADA code has become the bone of contention with the 11 Indian cricketers in the WADA pool refusing to sign the provision which requires them to inform there whereabouts three months in advance, which they consider a breach of privacy and a security risk as well. BCCI has already thrown its weight behind the cricketers and has asked ICC, a WADA signatory, to explore the option of having an anti-doping mechanism of its own.
-August 3, 2009