POAD AND PROTEGE FACE MAF PROBE
Duo questioned after youth sprinter tested positive
COACH Poad Kassim, known for producing top sprinters, and his 17year-old runner appeared before the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) yesterday over a doping issue.
Poad and his protege, who can't be named due to his age, were asked to face the MAF fact-finding committee for the second time at the National Sports Council (NSC) office.
The duo walked out in a huff after the hearing and refused to speak to the media.
The teen runner tested positive after a doping test during the Malaysian Closed in August last year. He ran in the 4x100m relay.
His A sample tested positive for two banned substances, methasterone and oxymetholone, which are anabolic steroids that can enhance performance.
The athlete concerned declined to contest his B Sample, waiving his right, as in 99.9 per cent of the cases, the second test results turn out to be the same.
MAF president S.M. Muthu said: “Both coach Poad and his athlete gave us their full cooperation and we have come to the end of our fact-finding mission.
“The next move is to present it (the findings) to the MAF council, and then we will make an official announcement on the matter.
“This will be done by next week,” said Muthu.
The other person to grill Poad and his boy yesterday was Datuk R. Annamalai, the MAF anti-doping committee chairman.
Poad has produced many champion sprinters at the Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI).
The coach’s latest product is Haiqal Hanafi, who won gold at the Philippines Sea Games with a time of 10.35s.
Another of Poad’s runners, Khairul Hafiz Jantan won the 100m gold at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur Sea Games.
In 2016, Khairul had run a blistering 10.18s at the 2016 Malaysia Games in Kuching to smash the national mark of 10.30s, clocked by Sarawak's Watson Nyambek in 1998.
“We, at the MAF, are perplexed how a 17-year-old can get his hands on a banned substance and administer it.
“We did not get the information (proof) in our first meeting, and so this fact-finding (yesterday) was held to clear the issue,” said Muthu.
If found guilty, the teen runner faces a four-year ban, as stipulated under World Anti-Doping Agency rules. The ban also applies to those who helped him get the anabolic steroids.