Ni Made fails SEAG drug test

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's pencak silat (martial arts) gold medalist Ni Made Wahyuni has failed a drug test conducted by the Brunei Darussalam 1999 SEA Games organizer.

National Sports Council (KONI) secretary-general Rudolf Warouw announced on Friday that a member of the SEA Games federation, Cahyo Adi, would defend Wahyuni in an executive meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan on Wednesday. Wahyuni claims she was using medication to treat her asthma.

"She did not use a banned substance. She used a spray medicine to treat her asthma, which caused her to fail the doping test. She should have declared she was on medication before the test to avoid this problem," he said.

Senior fighter Wahyuni, who plans to retire from the sport after the 2000 National Games (PON) in Surabaya, East Java, overwhelmed Nguyen Minh Le of Vietnam in the women's class E (65- 70 kilograms) final in Bandar Seri Begawan in August.

Rudolf said the organizer would be asked not to strip Wahyuni of her gold medal.

"When a Thai athlete failed a drug test for using mild treatment in the 1997 SEA Games here, we freed him of any charge and we did not take away the medal. I hope this year's Games organizer will do the same," he said.

State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Agung Laksono said on Friday that he had asked KONI to defend the fighter in the meeting because she did not intentionally use a banned substance.

"If she had used drugs to boost her performance, I would ask the council to take stern measures against her. But if she can prove that she used medication for her illness, then we must defend her," he said. (ivy)