India's cricket chiefs on Sunday backed the country's top stars who refused to sign an anti-doping code, raising fears of a stand-off with the sport's world governing body. “We have no problem with the testing, but we have a problem with the system of testing players,” Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Shashank Manohar told reporters here. “We have decided to write to the International Cricket Council about the concerns raised by the players. The BCCI agrees with the players that the system of testing is unreasonable.” The decision-making working committee of the BCCI met in an emergency session on Sunday to discuss the players' refusal to sign the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code because they said it infringed their privacy. The International Cricket Council (ICC) became a WADA signatory in 2006 and its board last year unanimously approved out-of-competition tests on cricketers in accordance with amendments made by WADA to the code. However, Indian players missed the Aug. 1 deadline to register, a stance that could prevent future participation in ICC events such as the Champions Trophy being staged in South Africa from Sept. 22 to Oct. 5. India's top players are the only ones in world cricket who had not signed the WADA documents. They were unhappy at a clause that required them to detail their whereabouts for an hour between 6:00 A.M. and 11:00 P.M. every day for the next three months to allow random out-of-competition testing. According to WADA rules, anyone missing three doping tests over 18 months faces a ban of up to two years. “I must stress that the BCCI wants cricket to be free of doping and we have no objection to players being tested during competitions,” Manohar said. “If at all WADA wants to test any Indian player, they can inform the BCCI and we will produce the player within 24 hours for testing. “But the clause of providing details of their whereabouts is unreasonable for three reasons: “One, there is a security cover for some players and it is not right to disclose their whereabouts in advance. “Two, the privacy of a player cannot be invaded. “And three, the constitution of India gives a guarantee to an individual that his privacy cannot be invaded 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.” There are nine Indian male and two female players who were registered for dope testing by the ICC, both during tournaments or random out-of-competition. The male players in the list are world batting record holder Sachin Tendulkar, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel. Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj are the two women players in the list. Indian Olympic shooting champion Abhinav Bindra rebuked the cricketers while the domestic media began debating whether the influential BCCI was again trying to flex its muscles. “There is absolutely no security concern,” Bindra said. “This is a lack of knowledge because the sport is not globalized as such.” The ICC said in a statement that India's stand will be discussed by the governing body's Executive Board to “find a way forward.”
