Sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore assures IOC chief of clean sports practice

Indian athletes were generally on the safer side of doping bans until the recent ‘needlegate’ issue at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia, which has seemingly hampered the image of Indians sports on a global stage. And in order to boost the morale of Indian athletes and bring in some good press from the general public, Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore met with Thomas Bach, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, on Thursday.

During the interaction between the two parties, Rathore assured Bach of the country's commitment to clean sports, as he claimed his ministry has "zero tolerance for substance abuse or for cheating in sports". The former Olympian medalist pointed to the recently-concluded Khelo India School Games to spot the sporting talent at an early age, adding that similar competitions would be organised in future at College and University level.

"...government with the help of Indian Olympic Association has prepared a Sports Code to bring transparency in the functioning of the National Sports Federations (NSFs), fair selection of players for competitions and accountability for proper utilization of funding to sports bodies by the government," the sports ministry said in a statement.

The Sports Ministry also revealed that Bach appreciated the initiatives taken by the Indian Government to bring transparency and good governance in the field of sports in the country. The ministry added that the IOC president proposed a four-member group comprising representatives of government, IOC, IOA and OCA to be formed that could add to the development of sports in India.