Suniel Shetty Named Anti-Doping Brand Ambassador, NADA Says Celeb Status Will Help Combat Menace

More than 150 athletes have failed dope test this year. About one-third of these are body-builders. We are eight months away from the Tokyo Olympic Games, and this statistic isn't a good sign for sure.

To combat the drug menace, NADA has recently announced that it has appointed Suniel Shetty as the anti-doping brand ambassador. It's hoping that his celebrity status will help clean up sports in the country from menace.

The suspension of National Anti-Doping Laboratory by the WADA earlier this year is another issue facing the country now that dope samples collected by the National Anti-Doping Agency from the athletes will have to be tested outside India. This has raised concerns about whether India may be able to test enough number of athletes in the coming months ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

NADA Director General Navin Agarwal thinks that appointment of Suniel Shetty's celeb status will give him more "clout" and "reach" than a former or current sportsperson.

"We thought that an actor of the status of Suniel Shetty will be able to send out message to shun doping, that doping is not good for themselves and for the country. We felt that celebrities will have more outreach to the masses of the country as they have a lot of following," he said.

On being asked if a current athlete would have been a better choice, he said, "A former athlete would have lacked clout (as compared to a film star) and may not be able to spread the message (to shun doping) to the masses. As far as current athletes are concerned, they are busy playing their respective tournaments and training, so we have not thought about them for this."

Former sprinter and Olympian Ashwini Nachappa said she wouldn't want to be too critical of NADA's initiative as brand ambassadors have nothing much to do. "I am not sure about the rationale of the NADA making an actor as the brand ambassador. At the same time I will not be too critical because brand ambassadors come and go and they have nothing much to do.

On the other hand, India's top doubles player Jwala Gutta feels the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) should have appointed a sportsperson as its brand ambassador instead of Bollywood actor Sunil Shetty.

"According to me, a sportsperson should be made the brand ambassador of NADA," said Jwala and added, "I do not know why we get attracted to actors. It's time that we make a sports person the ambassador for NADA. It is an important organisation for sports, so according to me a sportsperson should be the ideal choice."