Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar has questioned accusations that Malaysian athlete Tai Cheau Xuen had tested positive for doping, saying that the chain of custody of her urine sample was flawed.

As such, he said Malaysia will be appealing the verdict against Tai to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s ad hoc division in Incheon.

“While we are aggressive in combatting drug abuse in our athletes, we need to ensure that the integrity of the chain of custody because every athlete deserves a fair and impartial treatment.

“This is also to ensure that there are no disputes or doubts towards the anti-doping measures,” he said in a statement today.

Tai won the gold medal at the women’s naquan and nandao combined wushu event on Sept 20, during the ongoing Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. It was also Malaysia’s first gold medal at this year’s Asian Games.

However, she was tested positive for the banned substance sibutramine and the Olympic Council of Asia today announced her disqualification and withdrew her medal.

Sibutramine reduces appetite and was used as a prescription medicine for weight-loss prior to being withdrawn from the market in 2010 due to increased risk of heart attacks and stroke.

However, it is still illegally added to some items marketed as weight-loss products and herbal supplements, usually without declaring its presence.

According to Khairy ( left ), Tai’s urine sample was taken at 5.06pm on Sept 20 (5.06pm Malaysia time) at the stadium where the wushu events were held, but was improperly labelled and was tested only 16 hours later.

When Malaysia complained, he claimed it was shown documents that had clearly been altered.

Khairy said the urine sample and those of four other athletes were taken out of the stadium at 7.15pm (6.15pm Malaysian time) to the Doping Control Command Centre (DCCC).

Records show that the sample arrived at DCCC at 11.10am (10.10am Malaysian time) and then tested at the Korean Institute of Science and Technology’s (KIST) lab at 1.29pm (12.29pm Malaysian time), but the date was assumed to be Sept 21 because it was not noted on the sample.

The Rembau MP said even if the date and times given are assumed to be correct, 16 hours is too long for the sample to reach the DCCC from the stadium.

Only chain of custody in question

He stressed that Malaysia has no reason to question the sampling process nor KIST’s analysis, only the chain of custody of the sample.

“The lack dates raises questions and doubts one the chronology of the sample’s handling... It is something that is very strange and raises suspicion on the chain of custody. Why does it take 16 hours?

“Even if we take account of the time and distance between the venue, DCCC and KIST, it still does not make sense to take this long.

“Clearly the sample was neither kept at the venue nor sent to KIST immediately. If the organiser gives the excuse that it was kept in a refrigerator, there are no records to show this,” he said.

Khairy claimed that he has raised these discrepancies to the Asian Games’ disciplinary board and the Olympic Council of Asia’s anti-doping body to voice his dissatisfaction.

He said when Malaysian representatives met the disciplinary panel for a second time, they were shown documents on the chain of custody that were purportedly altered and differed from what had been officially communicated to Malaysia earlier.

“The altered documents have never been disclosed to the national contingent before and it is something out of the ordinary, since we have a right to be fully informed about the sample,” he said.

Khairy cited this as the reason for appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sports, it being the highest body for settling sports disputes.

Malaysian wushu winner fails doping test at Asiad