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Hearing set to proceed - INASOC likely to hand responsibility to OCM

   THE hearing into the positive dope tests of two Malaysian athletes at the Indonesia Sea Games could begin as early as next week.
   Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tunku Imran Tuanku Ja'afar said he hoped the athletes can be called for the hearing as soon as the Indonesia Sea Games organising committee (Inasoc) gives its go-ahead after speaking with its chairman Rita Subowo yesterday.

   Relay runner Yunus Lasaleh and weightlifter Firdaus Abdul Razak both failed doping tests after winning a gold and a bronze medal respectively in Palembang in November.

   "I have just spoken with Inasoc's chairman Rita Subowo 10 minutes ago and she will discuss it with her people in Jakarta and get back to us. They may be agreeable with our suggestion to have OCM handle the hearing.

   "Once we hear from her and get the go-ahead to conduct the hearing into the two athletes who tested positive, we will do it as soon as possible.

   "Indonesia have to make a decision as president of the Sea Games Federation (SGF) and they will, in all probability, give us the task of conducting the hearing.

   "We want closure in this matter and the sooner we conduct the hearing, the fairer it is for everyone," said Tunku Imran after chairing a special board meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

   Tunku Imran explained that OCM halted the Malaysian Athletic Union's (MAU) doping inquiry on Monday as the association did not yet have jurisdiction over the issue.

   The hearing will gather the facts of the two cases and present them to SGF, as the body which owns the Sea Games.

SGF in turn will hand the facts over to the international sporting federations concerned to assess punishment based on the merits of each case.

   "In terms of sanctions, it is purely up to the respective international sport associations, who have the ultimate responsibility. The hearing will not determine sanctions but gather the facts for the SGF.

   "All the SGF can do is   change the results of the events and redistribute the medals. They will then pass the facts to each international federation, who have the choice of delegating the cases to the national associations concerned to determine sanctions," said Tunku Imran.

   This means MAU and the Malaysian Weightlifting Federation have the authority to suspend the athletes at the end of the process, under the watchful eyes of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).

    The punishment for first-time offenders is a two-year suspension under the Wada code.

Read more: NST

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