Jamaican government reacted positively, says WADA
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Jamaica’s government responded positively to a report into its anti-doping bodies following a massive doping scandal, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said Wednesday.
WADA director general David Howman said he met Jamaica sports minister Natalie Neita-Headley at the World Conference on Doping in Sport in Johannesburg Tuesday.
“There has been a very positive response to the recommendations,” he told journalists. “We are working closely to implement them.”
A WADA team visited the Caribbean island in October to audit the Jamaica Anti-doping Commission (JADCO) after seven Jamaican athletes, including Asafa Powell and two-time 200-metre Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, tested positive this year.
The global doping body’s president earlier didn’t mince his words at the island’s authorities’ failure to pick up on the doping.
“They dropped the ball,” John Fahey said on Tuesday.
World sports leaders meet over four days at the fourth anti-doping conference to decide the future of the battle against the use of banned substances.
The conference will ratify new, more stringent anti-doping rules and also fine-tune testing according to different sporting codes.