Malaysian badminton player Lee Chong Wei has been given a backdated eight-month ban by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), following an adverse analytical finding for dexamethasone at the BWF World Championships on 30 August 2014. The BWF accepted that the source of the specified substance was the contaminated casing of a gelatine capsule of a food supplement that Lee had been taking.

‘Appearing before the BWF Doping Hearing Panel on 11 April, Lee accepted that Dexamethasone was present in his sample and that he had consequently committed an anti-doping violation under regulation 2.1 of the BWF Anti-Doping Regulations (2009)’, read a statement issued today by the BWF. ‘His argument was that he did so inadvertently and that either no sanction should take place according to Clause 10.5.1, or at least that any sanction should be reduced according to Clause 10.4’.

The panel was convinced that Lee, ranked as world number one from 2008 until 2012, had not intended to cheat, but found him guilty of a light degree of negligence. ‘The Doping Hearing Panel has deemed it “correct and fair” to backdate the period of ineligibility to the date of sample collection, thereby ending his sanction on 30 April, 2015, and making Lee Chong Wei eligible to resume his badminton career on Friday 1 May, 2015’, continued the BWF statement. ‘Lee’s runner-up result in the Men’s Singles competition of last year’s BWF World Championships has been disqualified, but results obtained between 30 August, 2014, and 2 October, 2014 (the date Lee was notified of his positive test), will stand.’

The panel found that Lee (pictured) and Morgan Sports Law LLP, which acted on his behalf, had met all three of the conditions required for elimination or reduction of his sanction under Clause 10.4 of the BWF’s 2009 Anti-Doping Regulations, namely he had:

• Established how a specified substance entered his body;
• Established that the specified substance was not intended to enhance his sporting performance or mask the use of a performance enhancing substance;
• Provided corroborating evidence which supported the absence of any intent on his part.

‘Noting Dexamethasone is not a performance-enhancing substance, the panel accepted arguments that Lee’s Adverse Analytical Finding was “most likely the result of him consuming gelatin capsules containing cordyseps and that one or more of the gelatin capsules’ casings were contaminated with Dexamethasone”’, continued the BWF statement. Lee had been provisionally suspended since 11 November 2014, the date of his adverse analytical finding.