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Malaysian athletic coach may have been giving team steroids.
The scandal surrounding several national athletes who went missing a fter being asked to take a doping test has taken a surprising twist ? three athletes now claim they were given drugs by a coach.
Sources within the sports fraternity say the trio were told by the coach the drugs were not performance-enhancers.
They were instead told the drugs, described as "pink-coloured pills", were meant for "recovery and relaxation".
A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the athletes claimed they were in the dark over what the pills were.
" The athletes claimed they were merely following instructions to take the pink pills, without knowing what the nature of the drugs were," claimed the source.
This latest allegation has set tongues wagging among the fraternity, already troubled by the baffling conduct of its athletes who went AWOL.
Six sprinters ? Mohd Noor Imran Ab Hadi, Siti Zubaidah Adabi, Yee Li Leng, Norjannah Hafiszah, Siti Fatima Mohamed and Nurul Sarah Abd Kadir ? went missing when they were asked to attend a doping test at the National Sports Institute (NSI) on Tuesday.
However, three of them ? Siti Fatima, Siti Zubaidah and Li Leng ? met with National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Zolkples Embong on Wednesday to explain the circumstances which forced them to "run away".
The whereabouts of the other athletes and chief coach Harun Rasheed are unknown. There are allegations they le ft for Bulgaria on Wednesday night.
This surprised Zolkples as the athletics squad was only supposed to leave for Bulgaria for training and competition on Saturday.
"My only concern is to rescue the athletes. They are naive and have been misled," said Zolkples.
" The three girls said they were told not to go for the doping test by officials. They were also met by two offcials in Serdang and told to prepare for an earlier-than-scheduled departure to Bulgaria.
"They were also apparently told to switch off their mobile phones and not to entertain calls from anybody."
Zolkples said "guilty conscience" compelled the girls to meet him and he advised them to undergo the doping test, which the three athletes did on Thursday morning.
However, he also said he was uncertain if the athletes were supplied performance-enhancing or any other drugs.
NSC athletics coordinator Datuk M. Magendran had also been trying to reach Harun and Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU) deputy president Karim Ibrahim since the athletes failed to show up for the doping test but to no avail.
"Magendran told me Harun, especially, has never failed to respond to his calls or SMSes. But this time around, he was totally cut off. We don't know where they are. I, too, heard they left for Bulgaria and even if that is true, we don't know where in Bulgaria they are now.
"This is serious and I'm concerned for the athletes. I don't want anyone to speculate or judge the athletes. All I can say is that three athletes did indeed come for the doping test this morning. The results will be known in four days."
The scandal surrounding several national athletes who went missing a fter being asked to take a doping test has taken a surprising twist ? three athletes now claim they were given drugs by a coach.
Sources within the sports fraternity say the trio were told by the coach the drugs were not performance-enhancers.
They were instead told the drugs, described as "pink-coloured pills", were meant for "recovery and relaxation".
A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the athletes claimed they were in the dark over what the pills were.
" The athletes claimed they were merely following instructions to take the pink pills, without knowing what the nature of the drugs were," claimed the source.
This latest allegation has set tongues wagging among the fraternity, already troubled by the baffling conduct of its athletes who went AWOL.
Six sprinters ? Mohd Noor Imran Ab Hadi, Siti Zubaidah Adabi, Yee Li Leng, Norjannah Hafiszah, Siti Fatima Mohamed and Nurul Sarah Abd Kadir ? went missing when they were asked to attend a doping test at the National Sports Institute (NSI) on Tuesday.
However, three of them ? Siti Fatima, Siti Zubaidah and Li Leng ? met with National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Zolkples Embong on Wednesday to explain the circumstances which forced them to "run away".
The whereabouts of the other athletes and chief coach Harun Rasheed are unknown. There are allegations they le ft for Bulgaria on Wednesday night.
This surprised Zolkples as the athletics squad was only supposed to leave for Bulgaria for training and competition on Saturday.
"My only concern is to rescue the athletes. They are naive and have been misled," said Zolkples.
" The three girls said they were told not to go for the doping test by officials. They were also met by two offcials in Serdang and told to prepare for an earlier-than-scheduled departure to Bulgaria.
"They were also apparently told to switch off their mobile phones and not to entertain calls from anybody."
Zolkples said "guilty conscience" compelled the girls to meet him and he advised them to undergo the doping test, which the three athletes did on Thursday morning.
However, he also said he was uncertain if the athletes were supplied performance-enhancing or any other drugs.
NSC athletics coordinator Datuk M. Magendran had also been trying to reach Harun and Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU) deputy president Karim Ibrahim since the athletes failed to show up for the doping test but to no avail.
"Magendran told me Harun, especially, has never failed to respond to his calls or SMSes. But this time around, he was totally cut off. We don't know where they are. I, too, heard they left for Bulgaria and even if that is true, we don't know where in Bulgaria they are now.
"This is serious and I'm concerned for the athletes. I don't want anyone to speculate or judge the athletes. All I can say is that three athletes did indeed come for the doping test this morning. The results will be known in four days."