No Arjuna Award for dope offenders

The sports ministry Friday made it clear that dope offenders won't be considered for Arjuna Award or Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.

The ministry also said that coaches of the dope tainted athletes too won't be considered for the Dhyan Chand Award.

The ministry in a statement said that it will seek a report from the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) about each of the sportspersons, who have been short-listed for verifying if anyone of them has ever been found positive for doping.

The ministry had to revise the rules after athlete Renjith Maheshwari, who had failed a dope test in 2008, was picked up for the Arjuna Award last year.

The new guideline says: "Sportspersons who have been penalized or against whom enquiry is pending/ongoing for use of drugs/substances banned by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) based on a sample collected by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) or any other agency authorized by WADA and tested by National Dope Testing Laboratory or any other WADA accredited laboratory, will not be eligible for the Award."

For Dronacharya Award: "A coach found encouraging the use of drugs/substances, banned by the World Anti Doping Agency, by a sportsperson whom he/she is coaching, will not be eligible for the Dronacharya Award. A coach against whom enquiry is going on/pending in this regard will also not be considered."

The ministry also said that nominations for the National Sports Awards would be called for in January and the last date for receipt of nominations will be April 30 or the last working date in April.