IMPOSSIBLE TO TEST ALL ATHLETES
Delhi lab unable to handle high volume of samples
NOT all Malaysian athletes competing in the Indonesia Asian Games are required to undergo a pre-competition doping test despite earlier reports.
National Anti-Doping Agency of Malaysia (Adamas) deputy director Nishel Kumar said the World Anti-Doping Agency’s accredited lab in Delhi is unable to accommodate the high volume of tests.
“So far, we have received the test results of 70 to 80 per cent of the samples we sent to India. All of them are clear (negative result),” said Nishel today.
“It (the screening programme) is still ongoing, so I’m not able to reveal the total number of samples that we will be collecting.
“However, it is unlikely we will be able to test all the athletes that will be competing in Indonesia as the lab is not able to handle all.
“There are two options for each sample we send. A standard test takes 10 days before we can get the result while the result for an expedited test can be usually obtained in 48 hours.
“We recently received an email from the lab in India which said it is not able to cope with the volume that we have sent and are unable to fulfill the 48-hour tests that we requested.
“This is because most of the countries competing (in the Asian Games) had also sent their samples there.”
Nishel, however, felt there won’t be any issue even if not all members of the Malaysian contingent are tested.
“Certain high profile athletes are already part of their international federations’ testing pool and are often tested at random, so they do not have to be tested.
“For example, high jumper Nauraj Singh Randhawa is part of the IAAF (testing) pool and must constantly let his federation know his whereabouts, so they can conduct random testing.
“In the latter stages, we will focus on athletes with a history (of drug use) as well as athletes competing in high-risk sports.”
Nishel said if athletes who are already in Indonesia find out that they failed their pre-games test (due to late results from the lab), they will be asked to withdraw from the Asian Games.
Chef-de-Mission Datuk Seri Abdul Azim Zabidi has said that all athletes, including horses, will be tested prior to the Asian Games following a slew of doping cases by Malaysian athletes in recent multi-sport competitions.