Maken expresses concern at doping by school children

New Delhi: Expressing concern at the dope flunk by school children, Sports Minister Ajay Maken said that efforts were being made to identify those games in which the incidents of doping were frequent.

"It is good that NADA is actively checking for doping offences at the school level also. Efforts are also being made to identify particular sports, where the incidents of doping are more," said Maken. Talking about India`s preparation for the London Olympics, Maken said his ministry would finalise by the first week of next month a list of athletes who can do well in London Games. "Besides those who have already qualified for the Olympics, we are planning to identify all the hopefuls in every sporting discipline by the first week of February. Then we would keep a track of the atheletes` day-to-day preparations running up to the London Games," he explained. Insisting that he would ensure athletes do not worry about their visas and other things, Maken said, "We are trying to make sure that the athletes do not face any problems as far as their visas are concerned or about making arrangements for travelling. We would take care of all that." Asked how many medals India is aiming to bag at the Olympics, Maken said that the Indian contigent would perform much better than the Beijing Olympics in 2008. "We have any target set as far as medals are concerned but I can certainly say that our athletes would perform much better than beijing," he said. "We will though start thinking about the medals a month before the Olympics. Right now we are fully focussed on the proper preparation for the event," he added. PTI