Jamaican five to face drugs review

The five affected Jamaican athletes will have their cases reviewed by an independent commission next Monday or Tuesday.

These five submitted positive drug tests at their National Championships in June.

Yohan Blake, Marvin Anderson, Allodin Fothergill and Lansford Spence were all cleared by a disciplinary committee of Jamaica's Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) while Sheri-Ann Brooks had her case thrown out after a procedural error.

A decision was expected to be announced in Berlin today by the International Association of Athletics Federations after studying case papers passed to them by Jamaica's Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA).

If the IAAF legal and anti-doping experts had disagreed with the findings, the case would have been sent to the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) for a final adjudication.

That would have seen all five temporarily suspended and withdrawn from the World Championships until CAS pronounced its decision.

Last Monday the disciplinary committee cleared the four male sprinters as methylxanthine is not on the World Anti-Doping Agencies (WADA) banned list.

That decision was challenged by JADCO itself, who promptly lodged an appeal claiming methylxanthine contains a similar structure to tuaminoheptane which is listed as a stimulant in the WADA list.

The IAAF were making progress towards a decision on the issue today when it suddenly emerged that the JADCO appeal case will be heard first.

"The appeal will be heard in Jamaica on Monday or Tuesday depending how quickly they can assemble the independent commission," IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss said.

Weiss added: "The timescale is okay for the athletes as none of them are scheduled to compete here until the relays take place next weekend, so they should be aware of their status by then."

A JAAA official, confirming this was the appropriate action to be taken, added that all five athletes will remain in their homeland until the independent commission announces its decision.