Internal probe done, BAM ready for Chong Wei hearing

Filepic of Malaysian badminton player Lee Chong Wei at KLIA last November.

KUALA LUMPUR: The internal investigation on the shuttler Lee Chong Wei’s doping case is finally over.

The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) deputy president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria confirmed on Saturday that they are ready to present their case at the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) hearing committee.

BAM are waiting for BWF to fix a date for the hearing. 

Norza said that the anxiety over Chong Wei’s case would end very soon “as we are now liaising with the world body to fix a date for a hearing to clear his name”.

“We may have been rather quiet on this matter for some time but, behind the scene, work has been quite intense. We have looked into many things to assist Chong Wei. At one point, even Chong Wei became restless over the long wait,” said Norza.

“We are now ready to present our case and are awaiting BWF to give us a date. Our intention is for Chong Wei to be cleared of this offence and get back on his feet as soon as possible.”

Chong Wei failed a doping test during the World Championships in Copenhagen last August.

BWF had initially set Dec 8 last year for the hearing but BAM asked for the date to be deferred so that Chong Wei’s lawyer, Mike Morgan, could conduct a thorough investigation into new evidence and findings.

Chong Wei can either be banned a minimum three months or a maximum two years. There is even a likelihood that he may escape with just a slap on the wrist, provided he can convince them of his innocence.

The good news is that the BWF hearing committee can backdate his punishment.

According to section 10.9 of BWF’s anti-doping regulations, a player’s period of eligibility or ban starts from the date of the hearing’s decision, except as provided under section 10.9.3.

Section 10.9.3 states that if a provisional suspension is imposed and respected by the player, then the player shall receive a credit for such period.

Chong Wei had dutifully withdrawn from the Denmark Open last October – before BWF officially suspended him provisionally in November.