The Commonwealth Games 2026 have brought disappointing news for Team India even before the competition has fully gathered pace.
Olympian and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Tulika Maan has been withdrawn from the Glasgow Games after receiving a provisional suspension from the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) over three whereabouts failures in the last 12 months. Tulika was one of India’s strongest medal hopes in the women’s +78kg judo category.
Just a day earlier, another setback hit the Indian contingent when judoka Arun Kumar was dropped from the CWG 2026 squad after reportedly returning a positive dope test. With these developments, India’s original 126-member contingent has now been reduced to 123 athletes, with three athletes unavailable due to NADA-related cases.
According to the Judo Federation of India (JFI), Tulika’s case is related to whereabouts failures, meaning she allegedly failed to provide or update the required location information for out-of-competition doping tests on three occasions within a 12-month period. JFI officials have confirmed her withdrawal from the Commonwealth Games, while her case will now go through the NADA hearing process.
These incidents naturally raise important questions. Could these situations have been identified and addressed earlier? Are athletes receiving enough education and support regarding anti-doping rules, including whereabouts reporting? Are the federations and support staff doing enough to ensure athletes remain compliant with NADA and WADA regulations?
India has faced repeated anti-doping challenges over the years, and every such incident affects not only the athletes involved but also the country’s sporting reputation on the international stage. With India set to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad, strengthening anti-doping awareness, athlete education, and compliance systems should become a top priority.
If India wants to be remembered as both a successful host and a dominant sporting nation in 2030, preventing such avoidable setbacks must be an important part of that preparation.