What does the abbreviation NADA stand for in Indian sports administration?

NADA stands for the "National Anti-Doping Agency", India's national body for fighting doping in sports.

What is doping?

Doping means the use of prohibited substances or methods by athletes to improve their performance unfairly.

It is against the spirit of sport and can seriously harm an athlete's health.

Common banned substances include anabolic steroids, stimulants, growth hormones, erythropoietin (EPO), diuretics and masking agents. Blood doping is a banned method.

The "Prohibited List" is published every year by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Anti-doping rule violations include:

• Presence of a prohibited substance in an athlete's sample.
• Use or attempted use of a prohibited substance or method.
• Refusing or failing to give a sample.
• "Whereabouts failures": failing to inform the anti-doping agency of one's location for out-of-competition testing.
• Tampering, possession and trafficking of banned substances.

Testing:

Athletes give urine and blood samples, which are divided into an "A" sample and a "B" sample. If the "A" sample tests positive, the athlete can ask for the "B" sample to be tested.

The "Athlete Biological Passport" (ABP) tracks an athlete's biological markers over time to detect doping indirectly.

Athletes may use a banned substance for genuine medical reasons if they get a "Therapeutic Use Exemption" (TUE).

Sanctions:

• A first serious violation usually leads to a four-year ban, and results and medals may be taken away.
• Appeals in international cases go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.

Related abbreviations:

• WADA: World Anti-Doping Agency.
• NDTL: National Dope Testing Laboratory.
• TUE: Therapeutic Use Exemption.
• ADRV: Anti-Doping Rule Violation.
• ISSF, FIH, BWF: international federations for shooting, hockey and badminton.

Why not the other options?

• ✗"National Athletics Development Authority" is not a real body; athletics in India is governed by the Athletics Federation of India.
• ✗"National Association for Drug Awareness" is not the correct expansion.
• ✗"National Academy for Doping Analysis" is not the correct expansion.