Neeraj Chopra joins IOA’s anti-doping efforts and launches clean sports awareness campaign
India’s fight against doping got a major boost on Friday as Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra joined hands with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to launch an awareness campaign to educate athletes about the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs and promote clean sports.
The initiative was unveiled at the second IOA Athletes Forum where IOA CEO Raghuram Iyer announced that the association signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Neeraj Chopra Foundation for the Clean Sports Campaign.
During the event, there was a video message from Chopra, who is in Doha for the Diamond League. The two-time Olympic medalist urged young athletes to remain patient and trust the process rather than looking for shortcuts to success.
“I have seen kids wanting to dope to win big medals. But from my story I can tell you that it took me 10 years to get an Olympic medal,” Chopra said, referring to his gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and silver at the Paris Games.
VIDEO | New Delhi: IOA President PT Usha urges Indian sportspersons to learn from Neeraj Chopra’s anti-doping success.
“Neeraj is an Olympic gold medallist. When he comes for this… people, players would believe that one needs patience. You should s pic.twitter.com/zoSqpgwLE3— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 19, 2026
“To achieve something in sports, you need patience. I see that the patience of today’s children has decreased. They want to achieve things quickly, to overcome 80 meters in a year. Something like that takes five years,” he added.
The campaign comes at a time when India continues to struggle 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 has classified India as a high-risk country for dopingwhile WADA president Witold Banka described the issue as a serious problem despite efforts to address it.
The campaign seeks to improve awareness of anti-doping regulations, reduce unintentional violations and promote a culture of integrity and fair play at all levels of sport.
Iyer said the initiative will rely on athlete-led storytelling, digital learning resources, workshops and grassroots programs to make anti-doping education more accessible to athletes.
“Throughout my journey, I’ve learned that success is never achieved overnight. It comes from years of discipline, sacrifice and consistently doing the right things,” said Chopra.
“Clean sport is not just about rules, it’s about creating a comfortable and safe space for athletes to remove their doubts about supplements and performance pressure.”
The Sports Ministry is also considering legislation to strengthen India’s anti-doping framework, including provisions to criminalize the supply and purchase of banned substances.
IOA president PT Usha said discussions about the campaign had been going on for the past six months and credited Chopra with taking the lead.
“We discussed with him for about six months because he is successful. People should trust him, players should trust him. He has already won an Olympic medal and he has shown that hard work is the way forward,” Usha said.
“Dope is temporary. We should trust a person who has already achieved. We support him 100 percent. It’s a joint effort because we also want to do something and it’s great that a real champion has come forward.”
According to sources, Chopra had been exploring the possibility of starting such an initiative for almost a year, concerned about the rising number of doping cases and the damage it had caused to India’s reputation in international sports.
Founded in 2023, the Neeraj Chopra Foundation works to improve access to sports infrastructure, support young athletes and provide resources in areas such as sports science, nutrition and injury prevention.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
19 Jun 2026 14:23 IST