Kathmandu, June 22:

Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) and National Sports Council (NSC) are hosting the South Asia Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO) meeting from June 26-28 in Kathmandu.

According to NOC Vice President Rabi Raj Thapa, who is also the coordinator of the organising committee, the regional meeting will be attended by high level South Asian countries delegates including Rob Kohler, Director, Education and Programme Development at World Anti-Doping Agency.

Asia-Oceania Regional Officer of WADA, Olympic Council of Asia members, SA RADO Director General, SA RADO Board members from Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka will also attend the meeting.

"Nepal will also the host the SA RADO training programmes to produce trained manpower," Thapa added. Canadian Thomas May will conduct the Result Management Training on June 27, while Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) training is slated for June 28. The TUE training will be conducted by Dr Adrian Lorde of Barbados.

A representative each from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka and three from Nepal will participate in the trainings. The three Nepali representatives to take part in the Result Management training are Dr Ajay Rana, Om Thapaliya and Dr Anil Bahadur Shrestha, while the TUE training will be attended by Prof Taraman Amatya, Dr Pradeep Joshi and Dr Ranjeet Baral.

"After signing the Copen Hegan Declaration of WADA last May, Nepal will be responsible for any doping case found in the Nepali athletes and we have to be aware of the use of drugs by our players," said Thapa. SA RADO Board member from Nepal, Dr Saroj Shrestha, who is also the coordinator of the meeting, said that the meeting and the trainings would help produce the trained manpower in the field of doping.

"We have been working for the cause, but at present we are not competent enough to meet the WADA standard," he said. "We will now have a competent authority and trained manpower to make the athletes aware and also the check the doping," he said.