KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 () — The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) president Datuk Karim Ibrahim’s appeal against the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) decision to remove him from their Council last year.

CAS communication officer, Katy Hogg, when contacted by Bernama said, the final decision was made on Dec 17, last year.

"CAS issued a final award on Dec 17 2018 in which the appeal of Karim Ibrahim against the decision of the IAAF Vetting Panel, dated May 15 2018, was dismissed,” she said.

The IAAF had, on the eve of the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games in August last year, confirmed that their Vetting Panel found Karim not eligible to hold a position in their council.

The IAAF did not elaborate further as Karim had taken the matter to the CAS.

However, media reports linked his removal with a documentary made by German public broadcaster, ARD, in March 2016, accusing Karim of covering up doping practices in Malaysia.

The MAF, then known as Malaysian Athletics Union, had banned Karim for six years in 2012 for allegedly assisting six national athletes, who refused to undergo doping tests by the National Sports Institute (NSI) in 2011.

Karim, however, brought the case to the High Court here and managed to get the ban annulled, before he was elected MAF president at the end of 2014.

Karim was appointed to the IAAF Council by the Asian Athletics Association in October 2015. — Bernama