Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has reportedly met with the top Malaysian athlete involved in a doping scandal.
According to Utusan Malaysia, Khairy said the athlete — one of Malaysia’s top shuttlers who contributed medals at the recent Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea — had given his full cooperation.
Khairy said the athlete had been informed of the doping test results via a letter dated Oct 1. The report said Khairy remained tight-lipped about the identity of the athlete in question but maintained that it was a ‘high profile case’.
Khairy was also quoted saying that the athlete had been shocked to know the outcome of the test.
“The athlete is still waiting for a response from the parties involved on the B sample test. I can reveal that the sample is now in a laboratory recognised by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA),” he said.
Khairy added, however, that if it’s confirmed that the athlete in question had taken banned substances during that particular competition, his participation in only that championship would be affected. He would not be stripped off all titles.
ALSO READ: Lee Chong Wei reported as possibly failing dope test
On Tuesday, national badminton hero Lee Chong Wei’s name was dragged into the scandal by several news organisations amid a lack of clarity around the scandal.
So far, nobody from the Badminton Association of Malaysia of the Youth and Sports Ministry has confirmed that this is true.
