Jia Xin Seeks For Another Appeal Session - Adamas

KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 (Bernama) -- The country's female high jump athlete, Ngu Jia Xin, has requested for an appeal proceeding after failing to appear as stipulated by the Anti-Doping Agency of Malaysia (ADAMAS) on March 18.

ADAMAS director Azura Abidin said the new appeal session is expected to be held before the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris which will take place from July 26 to August 11.

"We have not yet confirmed the appropriate date to hold the appeal proceedings session as requested by Jia Xin since ADAMAS is currently busy managing matters related to the 2024 Olympic Games and the 2024 Malaysian Games (SUKMA) in Sarawak, this August," he told Bernama.

Jia Xin is serving a two-year suspension from June 2, 2023 to June 1, 2025 from participating in any tournament after being confirmed positive for doping.

ADAMAS discovered that the athlete tested positive for the banned substance sibutramine at the Athletics Federation of Malaysia (KOM) Track and Field Championships at the National Sports Council (NSC) Mini Stadium, in February last year.

Last April, Azura informed ADAMAS that they had contacted Jia Xin to attend the appeal proceedings but their efforts came to a dead end after the 23-year-old athlete failed to do so.

However, Azura said they had asked KOM for help and witnessed the country's athletics governing body successfully track down Jia Xin after it upheld the suspension of the athlete from Perak.

Although Jia Xin failed to appear in March, she said the athlete still deserves to be given a second chance to make an appeal and undergo a fair trial session judged by the committee handling the case.

"Jia Xin still wants to be active, we just need to give her a chance. She is still young and has potential," she said.

-- BERNAMA