Foul!

Yunus and several coaches and athletes said in a sworn statement that MAU deputy president Datuk Karim Ibrahim had arranged for a Bulgarian doctor to provide him with “pills that could help me win gold at the SEA Games". That was taken from The Star in February. The Bulgarian doctor, Gueorgui Ananiev Baldjiysky, had in a sworn translated letter dated March 23, 2012 refuted the claims by relay runner Mohd Yunus Lasaleh, who failed a dope test after winning gold at the Indonesia SEA Games. Below is the translated letter by Gueorgui as produced to the investigation panel headed by former Court of Appeal judge VC George. Dear sir, Allegations Made Against Dato' Karim Ibrahim I refer to your letter dated 20-2-2012 and thank you very much. I have read the allegation which you wrote in your letter and in the internet as well. First I would like to say that I met the athletes and the team coach Harun (Rasheed) in Sliven, Bulgaria in May until August ...

Through a mutual friend, Malaysian Athletics Federation deputy president Karim Ibrahim and I were suppose to meet over a cup of coffee. Karim did send me an SMS, telling me he has to attend to an ailing family member and will meet up as soon as he sorts his stuff out weeks ago. I'm still waiting for his call. I was also told Karim has been asked not to speak to the Media.  But the silence is not helping him and the federation at all. National sprinter Norjannah Hafiszah Jamaluddin is the latest to lash out at Karim for turning his back on the six athletes who skipped drug tests last year. "When we were given warnings after the investigation and coach (Harun) banned for a year, I thought the matter was closed. "Now Wada is coming after us and we are all worried that we might not be able to run again. And it is not as if we did it on purpose. "We were told not to take the tests. I was on the phone with Karim at the time and he told us not to tak...

The Johor AAA claim they are yearning for change - as seen here . They claim they have got the support of many of the states AAA including FT. But FTAAA dismissed those claims by saying "they support the majority" and it should not be misconstrued as FTAAA supporting Tunku Ismail. “Our (FTAAA) council have not met, so how can we decide who we should be backing? Our council will discuss the matter when the nomination forms are out and only then we will decide." Read more here . Insiders claim most of the state representatives were unaware of the attempt to bring in Tunku Ismail until they were asked to "menghadap Tunku Ismail" by Johor AAA. When they met Tunku Ismail, they were all apparently in their "bodek mode". If these bunch of people really claim they yearn for changes, then they should know that Tunku Ismail - with all due respect - is not a suitable candidate as he already has his hands full with Johor FA. Tunku Ismail has got big plans for t...

UPDATE March 14, 2012: OCM, at its board meeting yesterday, decided to write to MAF seeking for an explanation. More in today's Mailsport. ---- This is about the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) doping fiasco. I find it difficult to comprehend that no party can take action against the national body for its failure to disclose vital information as seen in a report it compiled on Sept 12, 2011 which was then handed to the president on Sept 27, 2011. 1. The National Sports Council are merely the funding arm of the Sports Ministry and have no jurisdiction over national sports associations. They can only withhold the allowances or sack their salaried coaches and withhold expenses for the training programme especially for the elite athletes. 2. The Sports Commissioner's Office can only take action against administrative flaws by the association. 3. The IAAF and Wada, despite emails to them, have yet to respond. 4. But I browsed through the Olympic Council of Malaysia's const...

I received several phone calls regarding my earlier articles and those who called echoed similar sentiments - that the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) will try and use the elections as way to create an illusion from the on-going doping scandal. "There are attempts to rush the election so that the affiliates will be busy campaigning and will eventually forget about the doping issue. There are certain quarters who want the matter to suffer a natural death.” Hmmm..... HD says : I'm longing for the day to write about a major achievement in athletics rather than the constant major screw up.

Calling all magicians and comedians. If you have what it takes to conceal information like a magician and act and talk funny stuff even when concerning serious matters, look no further. Feel free to join the MAF - known to some as the Malaysian Athletics Federation but widely known as the gathering of Magicians and Funnymen. Rest assured if you serve long enough you'll get a title in front of your name! Harry Houdini would be proud of you serving MAF. Read today's Mailsport - Masters of work . HD says: It's a comedy fiesta...

Those were pretty much the words of National Sports Institute CEO Dr Ramlan Aziz. One wouldn't blame Ramlan for such an outburst. He has, over and over, advised athletes not to be ignorant when it comes to medicines and supplements. Yet, they don't seem to listen. So if an athlete tried to sneak in someone else's urine for an anti-doping test and if several samples of the urine was taken from the same individual, Ramlan said the "physical characteristics" of the urine will raise suspicion. If the same was practiced for a medical test, then Ramlan said the athlete is on the losing end as he or she will not benefit form the test. He clarified NSI has not been using Centrum for years and never used Antibol-loges , as claimed by former chief coach Harun Rasheed to the investigation panel on Sept 12, 2011. And he stressed former athletes have "no business" supplying pills - or in this case herbal pills - to athletes, as published in the front page of today...

I got my hands on a copy of the letter and report of the "Investigative Interview of Athletes who did not attend Out of Competition Urine Test by the National Sports Institute (NSI)" on the six sprinters that missed the test on May 24, 2011. Here are the facts; 1. Six athletes missed anti-dope test on May 24, 2011. 2. Interview session only conducted some four months later. 3. Panel chairman wrote to Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) president Shahidan Kassim on Sept 27, 2011 (with detailed report of interview attached). 4. Sprinters confessed their coach (Harun Rasheed) had asked them to "bring someone else's urine for the medical test." 5. Sprinters confessed having asked to take "herbal pills" supplied by a former national athlete. 6. One of the runners confessed having met Harun at the NSI car park at noon on May 24. Harun claimed he was only with the athletes until 9am and left for "Menara Maybank to sort out his daughter's wedding pre...