BAM Council meeting to clear air on doping offence

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 23): The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have called for an emergency council meeting to look into two matters – a doping offence allegedly involving world No. 1 player Lee Chong Wei and match-fixing.

The meeting, to be chaired by BAM president Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Arif, will be held on Sunday.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin confirmed on Monday that a national athlete had failed a dope test during a recent major tournament.

He, however did not reveal the athlete’s identity, saying he would only do so when the B sample result is out.

The date for testing the B sample at a lab in Oslo, Norway, has yet to be fixed.

BAM have so far been silent on the matter although it has been widely speculated that it’s Chong Wei who failed the random dope test after the semi-finals of the World Championships in Copenhagen in August.

He is alleged to have been tested positive for the banned substance dexamethasone. It is not a performance-enhancing drug but a type of steroid medication with anti-inflammatory effects that is usually used to aid an athlete’s rehabilitation.

Yesterday, one of BAM’s council members, said that they wanted answers.

“We have urged the president to call for an emergency council meeting because we want to know more about these two issues – doping and match-fixing,” said the council member.

“We want to know about the athlete who has been tested positive for doping. It is not fair to implicate our top player Chong Wei without any confirmation or official announcement.

“We want some light to be shed on this matter.

“If our player is guilty, we want to know who is responsible for it. Was it the player himself or the people who had given him the treatment … or were there some other factors.”

Badminton has also been rocked by allegations of match fixing.

Two Danish players – Hans-Kristian Vittinghus and Kim Astrup Sorensen – had reported to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) that a bookie, believed to be a Malaysian, had asked them to throw their matches during the Japan Open in June.

Last week, BWF released a statement saying that they had lodged a police report on the matter.

“We hope that the president will be ready to give us answers to all these issues, which have tarnished the good image of the sport,” said the council member.

The council are also expected to discuss the “presence” of two China coaches – He Guo Quan and Zhou Yang. The duo were brought in this month to monitor and observe the national players and coaches.

Some of the council members have no knowledge of the duo’s “appointment” and questions are expected to be asked about their roles, salaries and credentials.