BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - ATHLETES from Jamaica, including Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, could face a ban from competing in the Olympics if the country is found to be noncompliant with the drug testing requirements of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
In an interview with The Telegraph in the UK, WADA’s President John Fahey rebuked Jamaica over its “farcical” attempts to reschedule an extraordinary audit of its anti-doping programme until next year.
WADA’s Director General David Howman had planned to lead a commission to Jamaica after being invited by the island’s Prime Minister to investigate revelations from the former Executive Director of the Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission that it conducted no drug tests in the five months leading up to last year’s Olympics.
"The current position is unacceptable to WADA and we’re not going to take it lying down, their suggestion that they’ll talk to us next year," Fahey told London’s Daily Telegraph.
"To suggest to WADA they’re not ready to meet with us to talk about their problem until sometime next year is unsatisfactory. It’s totally unacceptable to me and we shall act appropriately within an appropriate time frame."
Furious with JADCO and its attempts to defer any investigations, Fahey promised an "appropriate" response from WADA.
Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission’s (JADCO) failure to accommodate the commission during 2013 infuriated Fahey, who last night (Oct. 21) promised an “appropriate” response, with noncompliance with the Wada Code the ultimate sanction.
When ask whether Jamaica would be declared noncompliant, Fahey said: “There are a number of options. You can read into that exactly what those words are likely to mean, but I don’t want to flag it up.”
The former head of JADCO, Renee Anne Shirley, blew the whistle on Jamaica’s lack of drug testing two months ago, having quit in protest earlier this year.
She spoke out after five Jamaicans who competed at London 2012 produced adverse findings, including former 100 metres record holder Asafa Powell, who denied knowingly taking performance-enhancing drugs.
Following Shirley’s revelations, Howman warned that Jamaica risked expulsion from the Olympics and World Championships by the International Olympic Committee and International Association of Athletics Federations if it failed to address her concerns.
JADCO responded by claiming its drug-testing procedures were in keeping with “international standards”, while Chairman Herb Elliott branded Shirley a “Judas” and a “bit demented”.
Though there is no evidence of wrong doing by double Olympic and World Champions Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, they may be barred from competing at athletics’ biggest events – including the Olympics – until the issue is resolved.
