Neeraj Chopra joins IOA's anti-doping drive, launches clean sport awareness campaign
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra has joined hands with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to launch the Clean Sports Campaign, an initiative aimed at educating athletes about the dangers of doping and promoting fair play.
India's fight against doping received a major boost on Friday as Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra joined hands with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to launch an awareness campaign aimed at educating athletes about the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs and promoting clean sport.
The initiative was unveiled at the second IOA Athletes Forum, where IOA Chief Executive Officer Raghuram Iyer announced that the association had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Neeraj Chopra Foundation for the Clean Sports Campaign.
A video message from Chopra, who is in Doha for the Diamond League, was played during the event. The two-time Olympic medalist urged young athletes to remain patient and trust the process rather than seek shortcuts to success.
"I have seen how kids want to enhance performance by doping to win big medals. But from my story, I can tell you it took me 10 years to get to the Olympic medal," Chopra said, referring to his gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and silver at the Paris Games.
"You need patience to achieve something in sports. I am seeing that patience has come down in today's kids. They want to achieve things quickly, cross 80m in one year. It takes five years to do something like that," he added.
The campaign comes at a time when India continues to grapple with a poor doping record. The country has topped the World Anti-Doping Agency's annual list of doping offenders for the past three years.
Recently, the Athletics Integrity Unit classified India as a high-risk country for doping, while WADA president Witold Banka described the issue as a serious concern despite efforts to address it.
The campaign seeks to improve awareness of anti-doping regulations, reduce inadvertent violations and promote a culture of integrity and fair play across all levels of sport.
Iyer said the initiative would rely on athlete-led storytelling, digital learning resources, workshops and grassroots outreach programmes to make anti-doping education more accessible to athletes.
"During my journey, I have learnt that success is never achieved overnight. It comes from years of discipline, sacrifice and doing the right things consistently," Chopra said.
"Clean sport is not only about rules, it is also about creating a comfortable, safe space for athletes where they can clear their doubts about supplements and performance pressure."
The Sports Ministry is also considering legal amendments to strengthen India's anti-doping framework, including provisions to criminalise the supply and procurement of banned substances.
IOA president PT Usha said discussions on the campaign had been ongoing for the past six months and credited Chopra for taking the lead.
"For around six months, we had discussions with him because he is an achiever. People should believe him, players should believe him. He has already won the Olympic medal and has shown that hard work is the way forward," Usha said.
"Dope is temporary. We should believe the person who has already achieved. We are 100 per cent supporting him. It's a joint effort because we also want to do something and it's great that the real champion has come forward."
According to sources, Chopra had been exploring the possibility of launching such an initiative for nearly a year, concerned by the rising number of doping cases and the damage they were causing to India's reputation in international sport.
Founded in 2023, the Neeraj Chopra Foundation works to improve access to sporting infrastructure, support young athletes and provide resources in areas such as sports science, nutrition and injury prevention.
India's fight against doping received a major boost on Friday as Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra joined hands with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to launch an awareness campaign aimed at educating athletes about the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs and promoting clean sport.
The initiative was unveiled at the second IOA Athletes Forum, where IOA Chief Executive Officer Raghuram Iyer announced that the association had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Neeraj Chopra Foundation for the Clean Sports Campaign.
A video message from Chopra, who is in Doha for the Diamond League, was played during the event. The two-time Olympic medalist urged young athletes to remain patient and trust the process rather than seek shortcuts to success.
"I have seen how kids want to enhance performance by doping to win big medals. But from my story, I can tell you it took me 10 years to get to the Olympic medal," Chopra said, referring to his gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and silver at the Paris Games.
"You need patience to achieve something in sports. I am seeing that patience has come down in today's kids. They want to achieve things quickly, cross 80m in one year. It takes five years to do something like that," he added.
The campaign comes at a time when India continues to grapple with a poor doping record. The country has topped the World Anti-Doping Agency's annual list of doping offenders for the past three years.
Recently, the Athletics Integrity Unit classified India as a high-risk country for doping, while WADA president Witold Banka described the issue as a serious concern despite efforts to address it.
The campaign seeks to improve awareness of anti-doping regulations, reduce inadvertent violations and promote a culture of integrity and fair play across all levels of sport.
Iyer said the initiative would rely on athlete-led storytelling, digital learning resources, workshops and grassroots outreach programmes to make anti-doping education more accessible to athletes.
"During my journey, I have learnt that success is never achieved overnight. It comes from years of discipline, sacrifice and doing the right things consistently," Chopra said.
"Clean sport is not only about rules, it is also about creating a comfortable, safe space for athletes where they can clear their doubts about supplements and performance pressure."
The Sports Ministry is also considering legal amendments to strengthen India's anti-doping framework, including provisions to criminalise the supply and procurement of banned substances.
IOA president PT Usha said discussions on the campaign had been ongoing for the past six months and credited Chopra for taking the lead.
"For around six months, we had discussions with him because he is an achiever. People should believe him, players should believe him. He has already won the Olympic medal and has shown that hard work is the way forward," Usha said.
"Dope is temporary. We should believe the person who has already achieved. We are 100 per cent supporting him. It's a joint effort because we also want to do something and it's great that the real champion has come forward."
According to sources, Chopra had been exploring the possibility of launching such an initiative for nearly a year, concerned by the rising number of doping cases and the damage they were causing to India's reputation in international sport.
Founded in 2023, the Neeraj Chopra Foundation works to improve access to sporting infrastructure, support young athletes and provide resources in areas such as sports science, nutrition and injury prevention.
