India’s Olympic ambitions may be growing year by year, but the message from the global anti-doping watchdog is clear: if India wants to host the Games in 2036, it must first seriously clean up its anti-doping system.
The warning came from Benjamin Cohen, director general of the International Testing Agency (ITA), who said India’s doping problem remains a major concern even as the country seeks to bring the Olympics back home for the first time.
And Cohen didn’t mince words.
“We are generally concerned. with the state of doping in India and we hear a lot of things that are happening on the ground,” Cohen told The Athletic.
Among the concerns Cohen flagged were reports of athletes allegedly fleeing doping control officials and claims that some athletes may be forewarned before testing — two issues that would raise alarms in any anti-doping system.
In other words, while India may be dreaming of hosting the world’s biggest sporting event, the global testing community is still questioning whether the country’s anti-doping house is in order.
India’s dream of 2036 comes with a caveat
Cohen said the issue had already been discussed with Indian authorities at the highest level.
The ITA chief revealed that he met officials from the National Anti-Doping Agency and the Indian Olympic Association during the Winter Olympics, where anti-doping reform was firmly on the agenda. The message, he said, was straightforward: if India is serious about hosting the 2036 Olympics, reform is not optional.
“The IOC sent a message that if they want to host the Games, they have to make some reforms,” Cohen said.
This means more than just tougher testing. According to Cohen, India needs structural and governance reforms to build an anti-doping system capable of meeting Olympic standards.
“There are many governance and structural reforms that should take place to make anti-doping in India highly effective,” he said.
But what is encouraging for India is that the issue is no longer being sidelined.
Cohen said both the Indian Olympic Association and the sports ministry appeared willing to invest in reforms and work more closely with the ITA, the body that oversees anti-doping programs for the Olympics and more than 80 international federations.
That willingness matters because, according to Cohen, India has both the resources and the urgency to solve the problem.
The challenge is not just testing, but trust
The bigger obstacle, Cohen suggested, may not be money or infrastructure, but perception.
He acknowledged that resistance to working closely with the ITA remains in India, in part because outside aid can be seen as an uncomfortable admission that the domestic system is not doing enough.
“I’ll be honest: there’s still some resistance to dealing with the ITA,” Cohen said.
He said there is concern in India that too close a partnership with an independent international body could be seen as an admission that the country is not managing its own anti-doping challenges.
Cohen indicated that this caused hesitation.
Still, he believes India is moving in the right direction.
“They want to do something. They want to invest. They have the resources, so I think it’s just a matter of time,” Cohen said.
So for India, the road to 2036 doesn’t have to be all about new stadiums, transport plans and glossy bid documents.
It can start in the rehearsal room.
– The end
Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
03 May 2026 19:55 IST
