‘There will be sanctions’
Grange names disciplinary committee to oversee JADCO blunder
Published:Thursday | June 9, 2022 | 12:13 AM
MINISTER OF sports, Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, in her Sectoral Debate presentation on Wednesday, praised the Jamaica Anti-doping Commission (JADCO) for its recent strides in anti-doping practices and adherence.
But she chastised the commission for letting down the nation with its poor handling of the Carifta Games after Jamaica’s U20 girls’ 4x100m relay world-record-winning time was not ratified by World Athletics.
According to the minister, there will be sanctions.
She disclosed that the ministry has also put measures in place to prevent any such recurrence in the future.
“JADCO has been performing well. Indeed, it is due to receive ISO 9001 Quality Systems Management Certification soon. JADCO will become only one of nine national or international anti-doping organisations to receive ISO 9001 certification – satisfying another requirement of the World Anti-Doping Agency Code Compliance Programme,” she opened.
“However, JADCO’s recent action or inaction has cost the country a world record. It was the first world record that I’ve ever witnessed on home soil, and the fact that it will not be recorded as such is truly disappointing.
”The unfortunate consequence is that the young athletes’ world record will not be ratified by World Athletics. I offer a sincere apology to the young athletes affected by this unfortunate set of circumstances,” she said.
She pointed out that neither WADA, JADCO nor international standards for testing require athletes who break records to be tested immediately afterwards.
However, she noted that the World Athletics competition rules does state that an athlete must submit to doping control immediately after an event where a record has been broken or equalled ends. And if it is a relay team, all members must be tested.
BEST PRACTICE
“The failure to test one member of the relay team was because of an apparent existing best practice at JADCO not to test an athlete twice within 24 hours in competition,” she said.
“This best practice is not contained in the JADCO rules, the international standard for testing, WADA rules, or in any internal memorandum or document.
“It was an instruction originating from the previous executive director. Investigations also found that JADCO applied its intended practice over and above what appears to be explicit instructions from the JAAA, to provide six tests per day, with testing being done on any athlete who achieves a national or world record.”
According to Grange, the measures to ensure that this does not happen again include establishing a JADCO disciplinary subcommittee to take appropriate action on the matter and she insisted that “there must be sanctions”.
Compulsory retraining will also be done on the rules of competition governing the major sporting organisations for all technical services staff.
“JADCO will review all procedures or protocols which would require an event organiser or body requesting in-competition testing to provide rules and specific instructions to that organisation in a timely fashion prior to the event.
“This situation must never recur. In recent years, Jamaica’s reputation in anti-doping in sport has been excellent. We have an excellent record. It must be maintained and built upon,” she added.
She also announced the make-up of the anti-doping disciplinary panel for the next three years, ending May 2025.
Kent Gammon will chair the panel, with Georgia Gibson Henlin and O’Neil Brown as vice-chairs.
The other members include Dr Japheth Ford, Dr Donovan Calder, Dr Marjorie Vassell, Denise Forrest, Heron Dale, and Dean Martin.