KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 — Malaysian Wushu Federation (WFM) president Datuk Martin Lim has refuted claims he took the easy way out of the doping scandal involving a national elite athlete by resigning from his post.

The wushu athlete, Tai Cheau Xuen was found to have taken a banned substance at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea last month, resulting in her gold medal being revoked.

The 23-year-old athlete was found to have tested positive in the sample A and B tests using sibutramine, namely, a stimulant normally found in diet pills.

Lim said the decision to resign at the end of this month was to take full responsibility for his failure as president to curb the incident from taking place, which had tarnished the association’s image and good name.

“The duty of a president is not easy and I must be responsible over what had taken place, be it to the athletes, coaches and the association because there is nothing more I can do.

“The incident is over and nothing more can be done even if the association conducts an internal investigation as suggested, because the decision has been made,” he told Bernama when asked to comment on the suggestion of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) that he carry out an internal inquiry first before resigning as president.

OCM secretary-general Datuk Sieh Kok Chee yesterday urged Lim to complete the case involving his athlete’s doping issue first before stepping down by conducting an internal investigation to give justice to the athlete.

Sieh also urged Lim to choose whether to mete out the appropriate punishment on the athlete involved, or quickly make an appeal to lighten the punishment of the athlete before considering resigning.

Commenting on the type of punishment to be taken by WFM against Cheau Xuen, Lim said he left it to his deputy, Ling Eng Chan to decide.

“After this, I will no longer be in the association but I am still prepared to extend my service to the association and the sport of wushu at any time,” he said.

He hoped his action would be a lesson to other sports associations to exercise caution, stressing on the need to have anti-doping knowledge and not just focus on success in championships. — Bernama