The Badminton World Federation says doping cases in badminton, including Lee Chong Wei’s failed drug test last month, have “damaged some kind of credibility” in the sport.
Its President, Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen however declined to comment on Lee’s case which is still ongoing- with Lee expected to know the result of his hearing on December 8th in Amsterdam.
He told Singapore’s TODAY that doping, along with match-fixing in the sport, is something the BWF takes very seriously and is fighting against.
Prior to news of Chong Wei’s doping scandal, Danish players Hans-Kristian Vittinghus and Kim Astrup were also offered money to throw matches by a fixer, who admitted to having fixed games in the Singapore Open and Thomas Cup.
“We have a few doping cases in the past, and luckily, it has not been that many. It is very important we are fully cooperating with the world anti-doping system,” he said.
“As long as you have money, in sports or other areas in society, you will have people cheating. So match-fixing is definitely a threat for the sport in general. It needs to be taken very seriously. It is a difficult area, but it is a matter of cooperating with the right partners.”
Last week, the BWF signed an agreement with the International Olympic Committee’s Integrity Betting Intelligence System to fight illegal betting, match-fixing and corruption in the sport, in a bid to stop the threat in badminton.
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