Skip to main content

Cordyceps capsules caused Chong Wei's eight-month suspension - Khairy

PUTRAJAYA, April 27 (Bernama) -- Cordyceps capsules containing dexamethasone was the main factor that caused the eight months suspension of former world number one badminton player, Datuk Lee Chong Wei.

Minister of Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar said Cordyceps is a natural food product and a form of herbal supplement that was taken by Chong Wei since he was 13 years old.

"Chong Wei has been taking Cordyceps since he was 13 years old because his family believed that its was beneficial for his health," Khairy told press conference on the outcome of the ace's doping hearing, at the KBS Office in Putrajaya, Monday.

Also present was Badminton Association of Malaysia deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria.

Khairy said Chong Wei followed the instructions of his nutritionist at the National Sports Institute (NSI) in terms of what supplement he could or could not safely consume.

He said the nutritionist advised Chong Wei that the Cordyceps in capsule form was safe and that it was not necessary to test the product as long as it was 'pure Cordyceps'.

Khairy reminded all athelets to continually refer to the NSI over the legality of every drug and supplement that they consume.

"We will review what has happened, not only Chong Wei's case but also other athletes under the supervision of NSI.

"Make it a standard operating procedure of NSI (get NSI's nod before consuming supplements or medicine sourced out of NSI. All athletes must learn a lesson from this," he said.

In related matters, Khairy said Chong Wei was still the nation's main hope to secure a gold medal at tthe Rio de Janeiro Olympics next year.

In Chong Wei's case, a panel of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) found that Chong Wei had been 'negligent', but the degree of negligence 'rather light' as "he did not realise he had ingested a Specified Substance (Dexamethasone)".

Appearing before the BWF Doping Hearing Panel on April 11, Chong Wei accepted that Dexamethasone was present in his sample and that he had consequently committed an anti-doping violation under regulation 2.1 of the BWF Anti-Doping Regulations (2009).


--BERNAMA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...
2 comments
Read more

Govt Always Gives Emphasis To Sporting Culture, Says PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 29 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badaw i said the government always gives emphasis on cultivating a strong sporting culture in achieving excellence at the international level. As such, the Prime Minister said, it was important to scout for young talents in sports. "I observe that the Malaysia Games (Sukma) has become one of the important platforms to do so. "In this arena, the potentials and skills of the youngsters can be identified for development so that they can achieve greater success in sports," he said in his message in the souvenir book of the 12th Sukma from May 31 until June 9. Abdullah said he was aware that competition in sports was very keen and challenging but this did not mean that Malaysian athletes were incapable of competing at the international level. "The fact is that we have all the characteristics required to be excellent. We must inculcate a strong fighting spirit so that we don't easily surrender,...
1 comment
Read more

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...
4 comments
Read more