April 25, 2008
Bangkok - Thai Olympic boxing bronze medallist Suriya Prasathinpimai has been stripped of the gold he won at the regional SEA Games last year after testing positive for banned substances, a report said Friday.
Volleyball player Supachai Jitchamroon had also returned positive tests from the December Southeast Asian Games, which were hosted by Thailand, the Bangkok Post said.
The Games' medical chief, doctor Varin Tansupasiri, presented the doping test results Thursday to an SEA Games Federation meeting in Laos, which will host the 2009 edition of the event, which is held every two years.
Three other athletes failed dope tests at the Games: Malaysian men's polo player Dato Mohamed Moiz, female boxer Dinh Thi Phoung Thanh of Vietnam and Ativeza Marcasia of the Philippines, in the women's heptathlon, the Post said.
Middleweight fighter Suriya won gold, while Supachai was in the volleyball team which took bronze.
"They are stripped of their medals," said Charoen Wattanasin, a Thai representative in the Federation.
"But how long they will be banned depends on each international sports federation."
Thailand's gold medal tally from the Games is now reduced to 182, still far ahead of second-placed Malaysia's 68.
The men's boxing tournament had already been thrown into controversy after Philippine fighters retired from their bouts, alleging biased judging, allowing Thailand to sweep the boxing golds.
Suriya, who took bronze at the 2004 Athens Olympics, was regarded as one of Thailand's most successful amateur boxers. He had been expected to compete in a qualifying tournament for the 2008 Beijing Games but withdrew due to injury, the Post said.
