Four 15th PON athletes fail drug tests, face punishment
Four 15th PON athletes fail drug tests, face punishment
JAKARTA (JP): The 15th National Games (PON) Organizing
Committee's antidoping committee announced on Friday the names of
four athletes who failed dope tests conducted by the body in
July.
The committee's chairman, Indra Kartasasmita, named the four
as men's rower Djody Winarso (Central Java), bodybuilders Djalal
(East Java) and S.D. Yanda (Jakarta), and men's weightlifter
Ferry Ardiatos (Jambi).
Indra said he had informed the concerned sports organizations
so they could decide on the punishment for each athlete.
"The chairman of PON organizers, Imam Utomo, will decide
whether to strip the athletes of any medals they won. Provincial
authorities will also determine whether the athletes must return
the cash bonuses they received after winning medals," he said.
Indra said Djalal and Yanda tested positive for using the
anabolic steroid ephedrine, which helps develop muscle strength
and mass. Djody tested positive for phenylpropanolamine and Ferry
metandienone mets, which are illegal stimulants.
The Central Java chapter of the National Sports Council (KONI)
sent a letter to the organizers, confirming that Djody took
unprescribed medicine one week before the doping test was
conducted.
Indra said Yanda's medical team also informed the committee
that he took some cough syrup. He claims he was unaware the
medicine contained ephedrine.
The International Olympics Committee (IOC) medical code's
Chapter 2, Article 3, Clause 1 says anyone caught taking certain
banned substances, including ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine,
can be banned from participating in competitions, fined a maximum
of US$100,000 and suspended for up to two years.
The drug test was held at the National Doping Control Center
at the Mahidol University in Bangkok.
Indra, who is also in charge of foreign affairs at KONI, said
five other athletes were free of charges of using banned
substances.
Women's kayaker Mintauli H. (North Sumatra), men's volleyball
player Markoji (East Java), women's rower Enggelina Ohello of
Irian Jaya and sprinter Novian Suhendra (South Sumatra) earlier
tested positive for levorphanol.
Indra said the test result for men's judoka Nyoman Sudarmayasa
(West Java) came back stating he had a high ratio of testosterone
in his system.
"We cannot accept the test result as levorphanol cannot be
found in Indonesia. Moreover, we have received confirmation from
the IOC antidoping committee that levorphanol is four to five
times stronger than morphine. If athletes have this substance in
their systems, they could not run or play volleyball."
He said he asked the doping control center to double check the
test result of the five athletes.
"Instead of levorphanol, the laboratory analysts found traces
of dextromethorphan in the urine samples B. The latter substance
is generally contained in unprescribed cough syrups. So the four
athletes did not take illegal substances.
"While Sudarmayasa, after the second test, only had a ratio of
4.9 for the testosterone. The ratio is permissible by the IOC
antidoping committee," he said. (ivy)