Jamaica’s anti-doping agency responds to allegations of mismanagement and lack of doping control oversight
In an article published on the Sports Illustrated website a few days ago, Renee Anne Shirley, a former consultant with the Jamaican Ministry of Sport who was responsible for coordinating with the national anti-doping programme in sport, revealed facts that raise concerns about the work of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission.
Shirley said that between February 2012 and the start of the London Olympic Games in July of the same year, the Jamaican agency carried out only one out-of-competition doping test.
In light of this statement, the World Anti-Doping Agency issued a statement demanding that the Jamaican agency respond to Shirley’s comments, after a large number of Jamaican athletes had failed doping tests in recent months.
For its part, the Jamaican anti-doping agency responded strongly to the allegations of mismanagement and lack of oversight, affirming that its practices are consistent with international standards.
The Jamaican agency said in a statement that the procedures it carries out are consistent with international standards.
The Jamaican agency’s statement added that the standards it applies have been reviewed by judicial bodies such as Jamaica’s anti-doping disciplinary panel and the Jamaican anti-doping appeals tribunal, as well as a judicial body outside Jamaica, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which found this year that our standards are beyond question.
The Jamaican agency said it is working in cooperation with the World Agency, which visited Jamaica in July of last year and expressed its satisfaction with the progress being made by the Jamaican agency and its commissioners.
The recent string of doping scandals involving Jamaican athletes has cast a dark shadow over the country’s preparations for the World Athletics Championships in Moscow, held earlier this month, where its most famous sprinters were absent after being suspended for doping.
Among those who failed doping tests were Asafa Powell, who previously held the world record in the 100m, and Sherone Simpson, an Olympic medallist in the relay.
Veronica Campbell-Brown, the women’s 200m world champion, was also absent from the World Championships following a decision provisionally suspending her after she failed a doping test last May.
