Asian Games: Athletes On Dope Will Be Dropped

KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 (Bernama) -- Any athlete who is found positive with a banned substance, will be dropped from the 2018 Asian Games squad immediately. The warning was given by the national contingent head Azim Mohd Zabidi, who said it was one of the steps to ensure that the national contingent met its target of zero doping cases at the Games. He said all athletes were required to undergo a doping test by the Malaysian Anti-Doping Agency (ADAMAS) before departing to Jakarta or Palembang and athletes who avoided the test, despite being given enough time, would also be dropped from the national squad. "Third, they have to sign an undertaking, whereby one of the paragraphs we have put in is, if found guilty, we have the right to punish him more heavily than that meted out by the association or ADAMAS. So if the association or ADAMAS imposes a three-month suspension, we can say six months. "Fourth, they need to fill out a form to state their nutritions for the past six months in terms of medicine, supplements, vitamins and anything else they took. This form will be submitted to ADAMAS for scrutiny, "he told a press conference after meeting skateboarders, boxers and triathlon athletes at Wisma OCM, Thursday. Azim, who is also the Olympic Council of Malaysia (MOM) deputy president said he did not want the doping offences involving national athletes at several previous games to be repeated. For the record, at the 2017 SEA Games, diver Ng Yan Yee was found positive on sibutramine while wushu athlete, Tai Cheau Xuen, failed a doping test during the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, and their gold medals were withdrawn. Malaysia is also at risk of losing a bronze medal won at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast, Australia, last April, when national weightlifting athlete, Mohd Fazrul Azrie Mohdad (below 85 kg category) was investigated by the Commonwealth Games Federation following the finding of a banned substance. Mohd Fazrul was earlier confirmed positive on Stanozolol during a test by ADAMAS before departing for the Games, but the results were only known after he reached Gold Coast. -- BERNAMA