(ATR) The World Anti-Doping Agency says Jamaica must overhaul its drug testing system or risk expulsion from the Olympics.
WADA director general David Howman urged Jamaican track and field officials and the country’s NOC to investigate claims from a senior director of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission that its doping controls are much too lax.
Renee Anne Shirley said the anti-doping body had insufficient staff to carry out rigorous anti-doping programs. She highlighted the staggering fact that only one out-of-competition test was done between Feb 2012 and the July 27 opening of the London Olympics.
Disillusioned that her concerns were falling on deaf ears at JADCO, she quit the agency in February. She voiced her concerns this week in Sports Illustrated.
Howman said JADCO had to take its in- and out-of-competition doping controls seriously and warned that WADA would take a dim view if Jamaica’s anti-doping agency didn’t do so.
Howman suggested WADA dealt with such concerns by seeking to remedy the problems with the national anti-doping agency, in this case JADCO.
"If nothing happens, we can ask our board to declare any of the signatories non-compliant and that has implications as to whether teams from the country would be admitted into various events," he was quoted in a Daily Telegraph report.
"We report the non-compliance to people who can then consider whether other sanctions ought to follow. That would be the IOC and IAAF and so on."
Jamaica’s reputation as a track and field powerhouse on the world stage has been tarnished in recent months following revelations about a string of doping positives for the island nation’s high-profile athletes.
Former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson, the London Olympic 4x100 meters relay silver medalist, both tested positive for banned stimulant oxilophrine at the Jamaican national championships in June.
They were among a handful of Jamaican athletes who tested positive for a banned substance at the national trials.
Earlier this year, Jamaican Olympic gold medallist Veronica Campbell-Brown tested positive for a banned diuretic. Campbell-Brown remains suspended while a disciplinary panel reviews her case. She has denied cheating.
Reported by Mark Bisson
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
