Hubli :
Here’s another feather in the cap of the twin cities. A consultant in sports medicine from Dharwad will be the only medical officer from India to represent the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the governing body of Asian football and one of the six confederations making up FIFA, at its under-16 championship to be held in Thailand from September 6-21.
Dr Kiran Kulkarni, 42, who has won the pride of place, says he will be only the sports doctor from the country in the contingent of AFC, which has its headquarters in Malaysia. “I will oversee medical matters and MRIs for age determination as well as implement the anti-doping programme in the tournament.”
He said 16 Asian countries will participate in the tournament. “I will have to monitor the medical staff and doctors from these countries to ensure that there are no doping cases during the course of the tournament.”
Kulkarni, however, is hopeful that allegations of doping will not tarnish the game. Compared to other games, there are very few incidents of doping among players, he claims. “Over the last two to three decades, few complaints of doping have come to light.” He recalls Argentinean midfielder Diego Maradona testing positive for doping as one of the few cases in football’s history.
During AFC’s tournament, doping tests will be conducted at random on about two players from different countries during matches. If players whose urine samples test positive for the presence of a substance used for doping claim innocence, then B-sample tests will be conducted. These samples will be sent to the International Olympic Committee’s laboratory.
If these test positive as well, then the players face jail time. Such players face punishment from six months to two years in jail.
Kulkarni says the team of %medical doctors at the tournament will work to ensure that all things go as planned with regard to medical amenities. “There is a possibility that in the under-16 tournament, the ages of some players vary. To ascertain that players are under the age of 16, an MRI age verification test will be conducted on each player.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hubli / Basavaraj Kattimani, TNN / August 23rd, 2014