Andre Lowe, Special Projects Editor - Sports

The legal team representing embattled Jamaican sprinter Nesta Carter is currently finalising its submission to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to appeal the sprinter's disqualification for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

However, Carter is allowed to compete pending the outcome of the CAS proceedings, this after the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) received confirmation from the IAAF outlining that the sprinter had not been issued a suspension after retroactively testing positive for the prohibited substance methylhexaneamine.

JAAA president Dr Warren Blake told The Gleaner yesterday that he had received confirmation from the IAAF after writing to CEO Olivier Gers and enquiring about Carter's eligibility to compete.

Gers, who was in the island recently as a guest at the RJR Sports Foundation National Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards and who also had meetings with Blake and other track and field interests during his brief visit to the island yesterday responded to the JAAA president outlining that Carter was free to compete.

"It appears Mr Carter is not provisionally suspended and is eligible to compete in athletics competition pending the CAS procedure," Gers wrote in his response to the JAAA's query after consultation with the IAAF's Medical and Anti-Doping Commission.

Carter is now expected to start his season shortly after going nearly 17 months since his last race. 

Carter will compete this Saturday at the Milo Western Relays at the Montego Bay Sports Complex as a member of MVP's 4x100m relay team.