ADAMAS to conduct hearing for athlete who failed dope test next month

KUALA LUMPUR - 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.

Anti Doping Agency of Malaysia (ADAMAS) director Azura Abidin said however, the panel members in the committee that was set up for the hearing were 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 here 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 last February had chosen 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 B sample 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 that 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, the Ministry of Youth and Sports chief secretary Dr 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.

He added that the symposium that ends tomorrow features 120 doping control officers from South East Asean and Asian countries, including Japan and South Korea.

The symposium was organised with the cooperation of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Southeast Asia Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (SEARADO). - BERNAMA