India has topped the list of athletes serving doping bans, according to the latest update by the Athletics Integrity Unit.
A total of 148 Indian track and field athletes are currently ineligible due to doping and related violations, two more than Kenya, which has 146. Russia is third with 66 athletes on the list, which is valid till April 1.
The list includes individuals serving bans following national-level decisions as well as international cases.
It also covers non-doping violations such as tampering, evading testing, trafficking banned substances and failures in whereabouts filings, which attract the same penalties.
Among the Indian athletes on the list are Dutee Chand, who is serving a four-year ban since December 2022, Parvej Khan, whose six-year suspension runs till July 2030, and Tamil Nadu sprinter Sekar Dhanalakshmi, who was handed an eight-year ban in 2025.
The Athletics Integrity Unit, an independent body set up by World Athletics, has jurisdiction over international-level athletes and their support personnel.
In response to the issue, the Athletics Federation of India has initiated measures to identify training centres linked to doping.
It has also made coach registration mandatory, warning that unregistered coaches will be blacklisted and their trainees will not be eligible for national awards. The federation has also raised concerns over the role of trainers in doping cases.
Following the 2024 Paris Olympics, the AFI has reduced centralised national camps, continuing them only for relay teams.
Most elite athletes are now training with private organisations such as Reliance, JSW and Tatas, or with government institutions like the Army and Navy.