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No possibility of being excluded from Olympics: Jamaican official

2013-10-23 15:03 Xinhuanet

KINGSTON, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- In response to latest reports claiming that Jamaica could be banned from Olympics for doping scandal, an high official of the country rejected the possibility on Tuesday.

This remark followed the president of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Monday criticizing the world's most successful sprinting nation over its "farcical" attempts to defer an extraordinary audit of its anti-doping program and calling for "appropriate" actions.

WADA has been seeking an audit of Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) after it was revealed to have not carried out sufficient drug tests on its athletes in some half a year period prior to the 2012 London Olympics.

While JADCO has responded that it cannot accommodate such a process until next year, John Fahey, the president of WADA told British media Daily Telegraph that the current position is unacceptable and the agency not going to take it lying down.

"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," Fahey said.

One option for WADA would be to declare JADCO as non-compliant, which would result in the country's athletes, such as Usain Bolt - a six-time Olympic champion - being banned from global competitions such as the Olympics and World Athletics Championships.

However, Warren Blake, president of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association, said "I don't think it's a possibility at all. What would London have been without Jamaica? What would 2012 have been without our athletes? It's not going to happen."

Ealier this year, several high-profile Jamaican athletes, including Asafa Powell, former 100-meter world-record holder, have tested positive for banned substances at the World Championship trials, casting greater scrutiny on drug-testing practices on the Caribbean island. (By Christina Hill)

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