Malaysian shuttler Lee Chong Wei received an eight-month backdated sanction for an anti-doping regulation violation, which could be lifted on April 30, according to a news released from the official website of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Monday.
It said that the Doping Hearing Panel deemed it "correct and fair" to backdate the period of ineligibility to the date of sample collection, which means the sanction will be lifted on April 30, 2015, making Lee Chong Wei eligible to resume competition on May 1, 2015.
Lee, 32, tested positive for the banned anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone at last year's World Championships in Copenhagen, where he lost to China's Chen Long in the final. The doping hearing of Lee was held in Amsterdam before a three-member BWF panel.
According to the news release, the panel was "convinced that this is not a case of doping with intent to cheat." However, the panel found that Lee had been "negligent," "but with the degree of negligence being 'rather light' as 'he did not realize he had ingested a Specified Substance (Dexamethasone)."
On the same day, Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin also made an announcement here on the verdict of the BWF on Lee's verdict. He said that Lee will continue to play and resume competition at the highest level after the sanction ends, adding that Lee will compete in the Sudirman Cup in Dongguan from May 10-17, and the SEA Games in Singapore in June.
Khairy said that the dexamethasone was most probably from the Cordyceps capsule, which Lee began to take since 13 years old.
At the press conference, Lee said that he was very happy to be able to go back to court soon, adding that he hoped that he can learn from this case.
