Asafa Powell Slams Suspension: ‘Unfair and Unjust’

Former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica learned today that he has been given an 18-month suspension from competition for testing positive for the banned stimulant, oxilofrine at the Jamaica Trials in June 2013.

In January this year, Powell, 31, blamed the positive test on a new brand of nutritional supplements given to him by Canadian Chris Xuereb, his physical trainer at the time. However, a Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary panel ruled that he was negligent.

During the final submission on February 26, Lackston Robinson, the attorney who represented the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO), told the disciplinary panel that Powell should serve the maximum sanction of two years, noting that Powell was not only significantly negligent but also grossly negligent for trusting his physical trainer, who he had only recently met.

The verdict was handed down in Kingston by Lennox Gayle, chairman of the three-member Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary panel which heard the matter.
The suspension is with effect from June 21, 2013 to December 20, 2014.

Meanwhile, Powell has reacted that “This ruling is not only unfair, it is patently unjust,” Powell said in a statement. He also indicated that he would appeal the ruling with the hope that the Court of Arbitration for Sports would be more reasonable in dealing with what he calls the facts of his case.

His statement reads:
This ruling is not only unfair, it is patently unjust.

Panels such as these, I understood, were assembled to allow athletes who, consciously or unconsciously come into conflict with the rules of sport, a chance at equitable redemption. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

As an athlete, I took a legal supplement – Ephiphany D1. As it turns out, that supplement was contaminated with oxilofrine. My team commissioned two private laboratories that confirmed that oxilofrine was present in the supplements, despite it not being listed as an ingredient on the bottle nor on its web site.

I would also like to share that upon realizing that the supplement contained oxilofrine my team made contact with both The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) who not only ordered samples of the supplement from the manufacturer, but also tested and confirmed our findings.

The USADA has also since issued a warning on their web site for athletes to avoid the product as it contains banned substances. http://www.usada.org/forms.asp?uid=3588.

This is the 1st time in nearly 12 years of being in the sport and over 150 tests that I have had an adverse finding … it is for a stimulant … a stimulant that is only banned during competition and experts have declared has no performance enhancing effects.

Sanctions for a stimulant and this kind of infraction usually range from public warnings to a ban of three months, six months in the most extreme cases; I was and am still more than prepared to accept a sanction that is in line with the offense.

Instead, nine months later, what has been handed down is clearly not based on the offense or the facts surrounding it.

My team has begun preparations for an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

I want to reiterate that I have never knowingly taken any banned substances, I did all the necessary checks before taking Ephiphany D1 and it is my hope that the CAS will prove to be a more open and fair avenue for the review of all the facts in my case – facts and truth that were not taken into consideration at my initial hearing.

Two days ago, Powell’s former club mate Sherone Simpson was given the same punishment for the same offence. She, too, plans to appeal the ruling.