THE six national sprinters who skipped anti-drug tests last year will have to accept whatever punishment recommended by the World Anti-Doping Agency (wada).
Citing financial constraints, the Malaysian Athletic Union (MAU) will not contest Wada's appeal at the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for four-year bans be imposed on the six and a lifetime suspension on former national coach Harun Rasheed.MAU suspended Harun for a year and only gave the six athletes "stern warnings" which Wada deemed insufficient following the May 24, 2011 incident.
"Wada says that the punishment meted out by MAU does not match the offence and have requested the maximum ban of four years for the athletes and lifetime for the coach.
"We have written (on May 21) to CAS saying that we want to reach an out-of-court settlement with Wada and agree to any sanctions which Wada wants to impose on the athletes and coach," said MAU president Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim after chairing a four-hour long council meeting at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
Shahidan said MAU will offer "protection" to the athletes -- Siti Fatima Mohamed, Siti Zubaidah Adabi, Yee Yi Leng, Norjannah Hafiszah Jamaludin, Nurul Sarah Kadir and Noor Imran Hadi -- by appealing any punishment handed out on their behalf.
"MAU is here to protect the athletes, coaches and officials. If we can't do that, there is no reason for MAU to exist.
"Once they have decided on the punishment, and we find that it is too heavy, we will appeal immediately ," said Shahidan who cited several mitigating circumstances.
These include the fact that "the six all tested negative in subsequent dope tests, had not ingested drugs and are merely national athletes who are not known internationally."
When asked why MAU is not contesting the allegations at CAS, Shahidan said: "To contest the charges would cost around RM300,000, money which we do not have.
"It would also mean the athletes would have to appoint an arbitrator and travel to Lausanne. This would be very expensive and we can't afford it."
In a separate development, MAU postponed their annual general meeting and elections due to be held by June 28 to later this year.
"We have to resolve a problem with the financial accounts first. Only then can we call for the annual meeting," said Shahidan, who declined to reveal the nature of the problem.
"Other associations have postponed elections before and we have a valid reason."
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