SHAH ALAM, July 23 — Malaysian Games (SUKMA) Selangor 2026 athletes will be subject to random drug tests throughout the biennial tournament, said Selangor State Sports Council (MSNS) executive director Mohamad Nizam Marjugi.
He said the Malaysian Anti-Doping Agency (ADAMAS) would manage the screenings, which is directed at the cycling, archery and shooting squads and involves urine sampling.
“If ADAMAS says it wants to look for individuals, it will look for individuals. If it wants to look for teams, it will look for teams, but usually it takes more individual (tests),” he told Media Selangor.
He explained that only weightlifters need to undergo drug screenings before the tournament as there have been many prior cases of doping.
“(ADAMAS) wants (weightlifters) to undergo doping (tests) first, but for the rest (samples) will be taken at random during the tournament later,” Nizam added.
At SUKMA Sarawak 2024, more than 300 samples were taken and no drugs were detected, which meant a doping-free tournament.
The use of any substance on the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) list of banned medications is considered doping, as some drugs could enhance athlete performance but risk adverse effects including death.
SUKMA will be held from August 15 to 24 with 469 events in 37 sports, while Para SUKMA will be held from September 5 to 14 with 316 events in 10 sports.
The opening ceremony will be held at Dataran Kemerdekaan in Shah Alam.
