Staff Writer – Archi
Caribbean news. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) blasted Jamaican anti-doping officials on Tuesday for the mishandling of a drug test by sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown that led to a successful appeal of the three-time Olympic gold medallist’s two year ban.
In a scathing 58-page report explaining the decision to uphold Campbell-Brown’s appeal, a CAS panel cited errors in the collection and handling of the sprinter’s urine sample last year that could have resulted in its contamination, calling into question the entire Jamaican anti-doping operation.
“In this case, the evidence before the panel establishes that the JAAA (Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association) has persistently failed to comply with the mandatory partial testing,” said CAS.
“That systematic and knowing failure, for which no reasonable explanation has been advanced, is deplorable and gives rise to the most serious concerns about the overall integrity of the JAAA’s anti-doping processes, as exemplified in this case by the flaws in JADCO’s (Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission) sample collection and its documentation.”
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), while concurring mistakes were made in Campbell-Brown’s case that were fundamental to the integrity of the testing process, said it was confident the errors would not be repeated.
Veronica Campbell-Brown. Photo courtesy jamaica-gleaner.com
“WADA responded to past concerns in Jamaica by initiating a partnership with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) to mentor and assist JADCO in developing their anti-doping programs,” the global agency said in a statement.
“As a result, WADA is confident that such mistakes will not be repeated again.”
Noted coach Stephen Francis, whose athletes once included Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson, recently called for Jamaican officials to disband their anti-doping agency and contract testing to agencies in other countries.
But Blake and Natalie Neita-Headley, the Jamaican minister responsible for sports, disagreed.
