Former badminton World No 1 Lee Chong Wei has been nominated for Malaysia's 2014 sportsman of the year award despite being provisionally suspended for a doping offence.
The twice Olympic silver medallist is awaiting a verdict from the Badminton World Federation (BWF) after testing positive for the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone during the world championships in August.
The 32-year-old, who has slumped to 30th in the rankings because of his inactivity, was on a shortlist of 12 revealed on Tuesday by Malaysia's youth and sports minister.
Lee won four titles in 2014 and made three other finals, including the world championships where he lost to current world number one Chen Long of China.
He faces competition from Commonwealth Games gold medallists Hafifi Mansor (weightlifting) and Ooi Tze Liang (diving) as well as Asian Games karate gold medallist Lim Chee Wei.
