Asafa
Powell has described his 18-month doping ban as “unfair and unjust” and
confirmed his intention to appeal to the court of arbitration for
sport.
The sprinter was banned on Thursday by a
disciplinary panel of the Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission following his
positive test for the stimulant oxilofrine at last summer’s Jamaica
national championships. The ban is backdated to the time of the offence,
meaning Powell will be eligible to compete again in December.
The ruling on the 31-year-old comes two
days after his training partner Sherone Simpson was also given an
18-month ban after testing positive for the same stimulant at the
national championships. Powell, who held the 100m world record between
2005 and 2008, said in a statement: “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.”
Powell claimed that he took a legal supplement, Epiphany D1, which was contaminated with oxilofrine. His statement continued:
“I want to reiterate that I have never
knowingly taken any banned substances. I did all the necessary checks
before taking Epiphany 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.”
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