The Athletics Federation of India -AFI- has been reclassified in Category A, the highest anti-doping risk level within the oversight system of the Athletics Integrity Unit -AIU-, the independent integrity body of World Athletics. The decision, announced on Monday, places Indian athletics under a stricter monitoring framework following the high number of violations recorded in recent years.

The measure, adopted under Rule 15 of World Athletics’ anti-doping rules, brings greater compliance obligations for the Indian federation, as well as more demanding testing requirements for its national team athletes. The reclassification does not amount to an automatic suspension of India, but it does increase institutional pressure on its anti-doping programme and on the country’s ability to respond to a problem regarded as persistent. The decision also reflects a hardening of the international enforcement system, in which integrity authorities are not only pursuing individual violations, but also placing national systems under public scrutiny over their capacity to prevent, detect and sanction doping.

India under greater anti-doping scrutiny from World Athletics

The AIU based its decision on data accumulated between 2022 and 2025, a period in which India ranked among the two countries with the highest number of Anti-Doping Rule Violations -ADRVs- in athletics. The body recorded 48 violations in 2022, 63 in 2023, 71 in 2024 and 30 in 2025 up to the date covered by its review, figures that led to the AFI being moved from Category B to Category A.

David Howman, chair of the AIU, said that “the doping situation in India has been of high risk for a long time” and added that the quality of the national anti-doping programme “is not proportionate to the doping risk”. He also indicated that, although the AFI has advocated reforms within the country, those changes have not been sufficient and the AIU will now work with the federation to implement measures that protect “the integrity of athletics”.

The AFI promises cooperation under international pressure

The Indian federation has defended its cooperation with the national and international bodies involved. Adille Sumariwalla, spokesperson for the AFI and vice-president of World Athletics, said the federation is working with the AIU, the Ministry of Sports and India’s national anti-doping agency, and stated that the body has a plan to toughen its domestic response, including the criminalisation of doping. The AFI’s position points especially to the athlete support environment, from coaches and technical staff to possible distributors of prohibited substances, beyond the individual responsibility of those who test positive.

Sumariwalla also argued that the increase in detected cases is partly linked to a higher volume of testing, and said that “there is nothing wrong with increased vigilance”. The AFI’s position places the case in a dual dimension: the need to intensify testing on athletes and the obligation to build a national system capable of acting against networks, suppliers and environments that facilitate access to prohibited substances. That approach connects with the AIU’s reading of the case, which is not limited to individual violations, but questions whether the national system of prevention, testing and sanctioning matches the level of risk detected in Indian athletics.

India 2036 and the Olympic credibility of its sports system

The reclassification comes at a sensitive moment for India’s international projection, as the country aspires to host the 2036 Olympic Games. Although the decision was taken by the AIU and not directly by the World Anti-Doping Agency -WADA- or the International Olympic Committee -IOC-, India has topped WADA’s list of anti-doping violators for three consecutive years, and the IOC has warned the country of the need to bring the problem under control in order to strengthen its Olympic bid.

The AIU has shown through the case of Bahrain that remaining in Category A can be reviewed when verifiable reforms are in place, after raising the possibility of its return to Category B in 2027 if it maintains the measures implemented during 2026. In the Indian case, Howman said the AIU will work with the AFI to implement reforms and safeguard “the integrity of athletics”.