KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — The athlete who failed a dope test during the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) Track and Field Championships in February is scheduled to face a hearing for the offence, early next month.
However, Anti Doping Agency of Malaysia (Adamas) director Azura Abidin said the panel members in the committee that was set up for the hearing are still waiting for a suitable date to conduct the hearing.
“We expect the hearing to be held in the first week of September,” she said when attending a dinner held in conjunction with the Asean+Doping Control Officer Symposium, earlier today.
Azura said if found guilty, the athlete can be handed a maximum two-year suspension for using a banned substance at the championships.
The athlete, who failed the doping test during the MAF Track and Field Championships in February, chose not to respond to a show-cause letter by the agency.
Last month media reports claimed that the athlete concerned had decided not to challenge the Sample B test and opted to have the hearing process conducted on him.
Last June, Adamas announced a doping incident at the competition held at the National Sports Council Mini Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Without revealing the details of the athlete, Adamas confirmed the dope test was positive for sibutramine which is a banned substance.
Following the finding, the athlete has been suspended from all competitions pending the outcome of a hearing on a date that will be announced soon.
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Ministry secretary-general K. Nagulendran said among the objectives of organising the two-day symposium was to highlight Malaysia as a country that will fully support the culture of sports that is clean and fair as well as to equip doping control officials with better knowledge about doping.
The symposium, which ends tomorrow, features 120 doping control officers from South East Asian and other Asian countries, including Japan and South Korea.
It was organised with the cooperation of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and the Southeast Asia Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (Searado).
— Bernama
