Hylton denied suspension appeal by IADP

The Independent Anti-Doping Panel (IADP) overseeing the case involving national 400 metres runner Riker Hylton and the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) has ruled that it has no jurisdiction to overturn the provisional suspension issued to the athlete by the commission.

The panel made the announcement Friday afternoon during the second day of the preliminary hearing at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston. It added that the proper course of action for Hylton is to make an appeal elsewhere.

This may be through the Jamaican Appeals Tribunal or the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Hylton's attorney, Dr Emir Crowne, said that in making this ruling, the panel has "implicitly sanctioned an unfair hearing process".

"I'm fairly certain that when WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) approved those rules and JADCO said it controls its own formal procedure, that WADA themselves interpreted that to mean that there is a right to a fair and impartial hearing," Crowne added.

JADCO's attorney, Lackston Robinson, declined to speak with the media about the ruling.

NEXT COURSE OF ACTION

Crowne said that he now has to speak with Hylton, who was not present at Friday's session, to decide their next course of action in terms of filing an appeal.

"It (the ruling) leaves athletes in almost an unconscionable position because the filing fee alone to CAS is 1,000 Swiss Francs (about Ja$130,000)," he said.

"I don't know how many Jamaican athletes or Jamaicans, period, have 1,000 Francs lying around to file an appeal to CAS, and that's just the filing fee. The fee for a single arbitrator is 9,000 Francs (about Ja$1,155,000) and a panel of three starts at 18,000 (about Ja$2,300,000) Swiss Francs."

Since the panel did not specify that athletes go to CAS for their appeals, as it only suggested making an appeal, it means Hylton's team can now go before the Jamaican Appeals Tribunal, but with the official hearing set to start on May 30, Crowne believes it may be a pointless process due to the time it may take to get an overturn by that method.

Hylton is accused by JADCO of breaching Article 2.3 of its rules, alleging that he failed or evaded to submit a sample requested by a collection officer. His provisional suspension bars him from participating in track and field whether by training or competing during his hearing.