Chong Wei: Stop speculation over identity of Cordyceps provider

PETALING JAYA: The eight-month drug ban of Datuk Lee Chong Wei will be lifted on Friday but the doping issue will not just end here.

A new question has now cropped up as to ‘who gave the national sportsman the dexamethasone-tainted Cordyceps capsules’.

The person was speculated to be ‘the wife of an influential figure’ that had led to many people incorrectly pointing fingers at Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

Lee, however, denied this when asked by the media, but declined to elaborate.

“I do not want to respond to such topics, it will mess up (the issue further).

“My focus now is on the coming up competitions, especially in earning points for the Olympics Games next year,” he told China Press on Thursday.

When pressed further, he flippantly said the Cordyceps capsules were given by his mother.

With his denial, the spotlight has now fallen on Toh Puan Ena Ling – the wife of former MCA president and ex-minister Tun Ling Liong Sik.

But she, too, denied her involvement.

Saying that she had known Lee for many years, she said she should not be implicated in the matter just because she played badminton and has a close relationship with the badminton player.

Lee was given an eight-month suspension after failing the doping test last year.

According to the Badminton World Federation report, Lee confessed to the three-member panel that the Cordyceps capsules were given to him between 2007 and 2008 by the wife of an influential Malaysian.

He took two capsules every morning.

Lee revealed her identity to the panel to support his explanation.