India's ace long jumper Anju Bobby George refuses to buy the argument that the athletes involved in the recent dope controversy are ignorant of what they are consuming. As many of eight Indian athletes including Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medallists Sini Jose, Mandeep Kaur and Ashwini Akkunji recently tested positive for anabolic steroids following dope tests conducted by the National Anti-Doping Agency.

Union sports minister Ajay Maken on Monday claimed that the incident occurred "out of sheer ignorance on the part of the athletes, who are generally from the rural areas or are not highly educated."


Anju Bobby George

Anju however claimed that there is a World Anti-Doping Agency list of banned substances that each and every athlete must refer to. "Every athlete is well aware of WADA's list of banned substances. I myself thoroughly check the list regularly. In fact, my husband (Bobby, who also doubles up as her coach) and me make sure we have the updated version of the list each year from WADA. So, in that sense it is very clear what I should be taking and what not leaving no scope for error whatsoever," the star long jumper, who won bronze at the 2003 World Championship in Paris told MiD DAY yesterday.

However, there is scope of mischief on the part of some shady Indian drug manufacturers, said Anju. "Many a times in India it so happens that local companies import certain drugs and then repackage them here. It is a strong possibility that during this repackaging process there could be some contamination, which the athlete may be unaware of," she explained.

She suggested a way out of this too nevertheless. "I always consume branded products. It is best to opt for products from reputed brands because given the company's reputation is at stake the possibility of contamination is zero," she said.

Speaking of her own unblemished career that spans over a decade and a half so far, the 34-year-old Keralite proudly proclaimed: "If you have natural talent and put in good amount of training, there is no room for things like dope and steroids."