BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary has claimed that the credibility of the sport has been put at risk by the governing body's refusal to comply with the country’s National Anti-Doping Agency ©BCCI

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary has claimed that the credibility of the sport has been put at risk by the governing body's refusal to comply with the country's National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).

In a statement last month, a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) spokesperson confirmed the International Cricket Council (ICC) had been given a deadline of October 4 to resolve the row involving the BCCI and the NADA.

But with no progress, there is a strong possibility WADA will declare the ICC non-compliant.

Chaudhary is in Singapore for an ICC meeting and is due to return to India today to attend a Committee of Administrators (CoA) gathering in New Delhi.

"When I come back, I'm going to be writing to all concerned - Committee of Administrators and the general body - and inform them of what's at stake here," Chaudhary was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

"The onus is clearly on India to act because if we don't we risk the credibility of the game in a large way."

He added: "India and Afghanistan are the only two countries that aren't NADA compliant but as we know, Afghanistan is a different case altogether because of where they're coming from.

"But in the BCCI's case, if we don't take a step forward in this direction, we risk a global backlash to the ecosystem.

"Every international sport has moved together in one direction to comply with anti-doping norms.

"Now, why cricket is not able to move in direction, that's the question."

India and Afghanistan are the only two countries that aren't NADA compliant ©Getty Images
India and Afghanistan are the only two countries that aren't NADA compliant ©Getty Images

The BCCI has refused to allow the NADA to conduct anti-doping activities, including testing, as the governing body does not benefit from Government funding.

The dispute has attracted the attention of WADA, who warned the issue would be passed on to its Compliance Review Committee (CRC) if there was no resolution by the deadline.

The ICC are responsible for ensuring all of their members adhere to the WADA Code and are therefore held accountable for any problems which may arise.

In a letter sent on July 4, WADA chief compliance manager Emiliano Simonelli urged the ICC to rectify the issue with India or the organisation will be forced to "present the case to WADA's CRC for further discussion and possible recommendation of non-compliance of your organisation to the WADA Executive Committee".

The consequences for non-compliance have toughened this year as part of the updated International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories.

A range of "graded, predictable and proportionate sanctions" can be issued for those violating rules, ranging from fines to a six-month probation period to the worst case scenario of a suspension.

ICC chief executive David Richardson admitted last month that the Indian situation was damaging the sport's chances of securing a place on the Olympic programme.

As the BCCI are one of the main powerbrokers in world cricket, a bid for cricket’s inclusion in the Olympics would be virtually impossible without their backing.