The Chief Director of the National Sports Council (NSC), Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail strongly rejected claims of unfair treatment and poor handling over national bodybuilder Sazali Samad’s doping case.
Ahmad Shapawi and the Malaysian Youth and Sports Ministry were criticized of not giving the bodybuilder as much vindication as they did to protect national badminton superstar Datuk Lee Chong Wei.
“Why is there a need to compare his (Sazali) doping case and Chong Wei’s?” he told Berita Harian.
“Perhaps a lot might not understand it but Sazali’s case and Chong Wei’s case are very different. For Sazali’s case, he and the association did not pose any objection to the verdict.”
“This means that he admitted on cheating and this sort of action is a very big issue in the sports industry.”
“We can provide him our full support but in this case, Sazali himself accepted the verdict without any objection.”
“It is very different from Chong Wei’s case because since the start of the case, Chong Wei had defended himself and denied his fault. Therefore, do not accuse us of bias and treating them differently,” he added.
Recently, 10-time Mr Universe Sazali Samad was proven to have consumed steroids to elevate his performance after failing an out-of-competition doping test proposed by the Malaysian Anti Doping Agency (ADAMAS) on September 1.
The 48 year-old will be suspended for four years and his allowance of RM3,500 per month will also be retrieved.
Other posts by Michelle Liew
