WADA or erstwhile TADA!!!!

If you were not entertained enough with the twists, turns and drama which Rakhi Sawant provided to the entire nation, then there is no need to get disheartened. The latest deadlock between BCCI and WADA(World Anti Doping Agency) is giving enough food for thought to keep our voracious appetite for such entertaining news fulfilled. Now the clause which is causing this major ruckus is something like this-

“Players should inform the ICC at the beginning of every quarter (three-month period) of the year, a location and time that they will be available for an hour each day in that quarter for testing. If a player changes his/her schedule in between, then he/she needs to update the whereabouts information to the nodal officer either online or even through SMS. However, if the player is not in the location at the time specified, he/she will have a strike recorded against his name. Three such strikes and the player will have breached the code and can face up to a two-year suspension from the game.”

I really can’t stop laughing reading this hilarious clause which has turned out to be a bone of contention for Team India and BCCI, so what this means is that if unfortunately in the middle of any quarter Yuvraj Singh suffers from loose motion and he is forced to visit the loo more frequently than his routine morning call, then he will have to immediately inform the officials about this, otherwise if he is unable to answer their calls thrice because of being in such a bad state, he will be suspended from the game for 2 years! Hahahahahahaha…Goodness me! Or for that matter if Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s manages to have a new girl friend and plans a date with her, so he will have to inform the officials about the reasons for choosing this new chic and what led Mahi to choose for a particular dating spot, and may be what all Mahi did on that date! Utter stupidity…I really don’t understand the rationale behind this clause and infact I am myself unaware of any individual who knows everything he is gonna do for next 3 months.

Now the logic which is being given against Team India and BCCI is, that 571 sporting bodies across the world have already accepted it, so why the heck are you not accepting it. Now I don’t understand 1 simple thing, that if 571 odd people or group buckle down to a stupid clause, does it become a Universally acceptable fact??? And how many of those who have already signed this clause are actually fine with it, the answer to this is NONE, if not some. Nobody wants to have a public display of their lives, and if you are a celebrity you are bound to safeguard your personal life even more. Now the argument put forth behind this is, even players like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have signed it so what’s the fuss with Men in Blue? But the flip side remains that even these super stars have raised their concerns against this draconian law. Now another truth of the fact is, most of sporting bodies amongst these 571 sporting bodies are not the ones who administer Team Sports but are the ones governing individual sporting events, like archery, athletics, swimming, tennis etc, mostly the Olympic games. So an individual sportsperson is more liable to succumb to these laws than a team as a whole, because otherwise his survival is at stake, but a team on the other hand can take a collective stand and actually raise their voice against anything they find objectionable. Agreed that players like Federer and Nadal are too rich to actually succumb against untoward pressures of any kind, but at the same time, the governing bodies under which they perform aren’t that rich as BCCI. So they don’t enjoy the same support and backing of their administering bodies, hence they have no option left but to adhere to these norms.

Also, the main objective of WADA is to have an environment which facilitates fair play, free from all sorts of cheatings related to drugs and dopings. And Team India and BCCI have never opposed to any form of tests at any point, infact BCCI was among the first cricket boards to actually become WADA compliant. Their simple argument is, Team India plays for over 9 months in a year, so they are open for any tests for 265 days, now what they are asking for is just some space for themselves for 90 odd days. And even in that period they are ready for any tests and investigations as and when notified by the officials, so what’s the point in disclosing an hourly detail well in advance when the players are themselves available for any tests at any point of time with some prior notice, be it their playing season or be it their non playing season. Now the funniest aspect in all this are the people involved in moral policing of Team India, Saina Nehwal, Abhinav Bindra, Sania Mirza, Mahesh Bhupathi to name a few. Now with all due respect to these sportspersons who have done lots for Mother India and made us all proud time and again, the simple question against this argument is, Do they play as much of their sport in the year as Team India plays??? Statistically the answer is NO, but even if some say YES, that even they also play as much as the cricketers do, then the counter question is, Will their sporting body ever support them, if they go in the lines of these cricketers??? The answer would again be NO because none of the supporting body is as cash rich as the BCCI is, so they can’t even think of going against anything, even if they know something is wrong. Now one last question to those eminent and great sportsmen, Does anybody with the name of Dawood Ibrahim or Hafiz Muhammad Saeed(Lashkar-e- Taiba chief) even knows them, leave apart threatening them for life??? I am sure the answer for this will also be a sure NO. So why on earth people aren’t understanding this fact that the concerns which Indian Cricketers are raising are not just confined to safeguarding there personal lives but they are also for there safety and security which is under a constant threat from various quarters, because of the huge fan following and mass appeal which these people and this Game enjoys in this part of the world. Infact the threat which these people face is much much bigger than what other prominent sportspersons face who are even bigger in stature and talent than these cricketers.

The common cause of dissent among all is the fact that BCCI is misusing its financial might to maneuver things as per its convenience. And I totally agree with this, that if BCCI is in a position to call its shots the reason behind that is definitely the financial supremacy of BCCI over all its contemporaries. And what’s wrong in that, rather than being ruled by white men in every sphere for ages, it should be treated as a welcome change, and we all Indians should relish this, that atleast somewhere we are in a position to dictate terms. If we talk in practical terms, BCCI might also adhere with these controversial rules, may be with some minor tweaks, but the truth of the fact will always remain that if you have the power FLAUNT it and USE it, because in this competitive world you wont get many such opportunities to use your power to your own advantage, even if you are fighting for a right cause, be it WADA or its erstwhile equivalent TADA!

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