KUALA LUMPUR: A former senior Malaysian sports official has been punished with a six-year ban after being found guilty for alleged involvement in two separate doping scandals, a report said yesterday.
The Malaysian Athletic Federation (MAF) suspended 57-year-old Karim Ibrahim, who was the body’s deputy president from 2008 to last month, with immediate effect.
This is the first time ever a sports official in Malaysia has been suspended.
The Star newspaper said the body’s 21-member council unanimously found Karim guilty based on the findings of an inquiry committee which was headed by retired judge VC George.
It also said Karim was banned from holding any positions at national or state levels. The MAF was previously known as the Malaysian Athletic Union.
Karim was investigated last February for allegedly supplying banned drugs to a gold medal-winning athlete at the Southeast Asian Games.
Mohammad Yunus Lasaleh, who was part of Malaysia’s victorious 4X400m relay team at the November Games in Indonesia, has alleged that Karim supplied him with drugs.
Yunus had said he was provided with pills he was told were vitamins and also received injections two or three times a week from a Bulgarian doctor prior to the November Games to help him win a gold medal.
Subsequently in July, the victorious relay team were stripped of their gold medals after Yunus failed doping tests.
Karim, an ex-athletic coach, is also alleged to have told six sprinters not to provide urine samples for doping tests.
Newly-elected MAF president Zainal Abidin Ahmad said Karim was found guilty for his alleged involvement in the two doping scandals. AFP
