With former world 100 metres record holder Asafa Powell and four other Jamaicans facing certain bans for failing drug tests, the spotlight has fallen on his Canadian trainer Chris Xuereb amid conflicting reports yesterday from Italy that police searches had found drugs in several rooms where the athletes are now encamped.
News of the positive test for Powell and the other four athletes including Olympic silver medallist Sherone Simpson at the Jamaica National Senior Trials in June broke on Sunday just minutes after US speedster Tyson Gay was also declared to be in the same predicament. Throwers Traves Smikle and Allison Randall are the other Jamaican athletes confirmed by sources at this point.
Last evening, the Jamaica Observer reported that Powell has pulled the plug on his season and could be returning to the island from Italy.
Tara Playfair-Scott, Powell’s publicist told the Observer that the athlete was leaving the MVP Italian base soon but was not sure when he would return to the island.
Meanwhile she said Powell was not in the best of moods and described him as “devastated, hurt and embarrassed,” by the results.
Powell and Simpson tested positive for ‘oxilofrine’ (methylsynephrine) at the trials.
It is understood that the athletes were notified of the positive results on Friday and immediately started their own investigations.
Playfair-Scott, according to the Jamaica Gleaner, rejected international media reports that Powell’s room was raided by Italian police yesterday morning.
The Associated Press reported yesterday that Italian police had raided the hotel where Powell and Simpson and their Canadian trainer are staying after the two athletes tested positive for banned stimulants.
Playfair-Scott said the only room that was raided was that of the trainer, Xuereb, and Powell’s team has been working with Italian police on the matter.
Udine police captain Antonio Pisapia had told The Associated Press that drugs and muscle supplements were seized during the raid.
Pisapia said it was unclear if the drugs and muscle supplements were legal or illicit and that the substances were being analysed.
“We are examining the substances now,” Pisapia said. “No arrests have been made and nobody has been placed under investigation.”
The raid took place at the Fra i Pini hotel in Lignano Sabbiadoro in northeastern Italy.
Meanwhile recriminations were flying left and right yesterday.
Paul Doyle, agent for Powell and Simpson told the Jamaica Observer he is not fazed by a verbal attack from head coach of MVP track club Stephen Francis.
“Nothing has changed, its business as usual,” Doyle told the Jamaica Observer yesterday when asked about his relationship with Francis going forward.
In radio interviews throughout the day Francis launched a scathing attack on the American agent accusing him of foisting trainer Xuereb on the athletes.
Both Powell and Simpson are members of Francis’ MVP track club.
Meanwhile Doyle told the Observer that they hoped to get the ‘B samples’ tested by next week and had already started the process.
“We hope we can get the ‘B sample’ tested by next week so we can move on”.
According to CMC, Doyle also conceded not doing enough background checks on the physical trainer. According to Doyle, the highly recommended trainer came on board just ahead of the National Trials in June to help prepare Powell for the championships.
In an interview on Nationwide Radio, he says there was not enough time to for him to do the due diligence on the trainer.
Doyle says, as the agent who hired the trainer, he only became aware of the supplements when he got the invoices to pay for them.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos has called for a “minimum” four year ban for Powell and Gay.
According to The Telegraph on www.telegraph.co.uk, a “shocked and deeply saddened” De Vos insisted a two-year suspension was “not sufficient” to the sprinters, despite their claims that there was more to their positive tests than meets the eye.
De Vos said there was virtually no excuse for a failed test and urged athletics authorities to impose a “minimum” ban of four years.
According to Telegraph Sport “The bottom line is, for me, a cheat is a cheat – almost whatever the circumstances. And if these guys are cheats then they should face whatever is coming to them.
“I wish that the IAAF and the international authorities would give them the sort of penalties that I’ve asked for in the past very loudly. Because, I think a two-year ban is just not sufficient.”
Coming just a month after Veronica Campbell-Brown’s positive drug test, a report in the Jamaica Gleaner yesterday said that this latest incident is a major blow to the sport with Powell being one of the most marketable athletes on the international circuit.
“I am reeling from this genuinely surprising result. I am confident, however, that I will come out stronger, wiser and better prepared for the many twists and turns of being a professional athlete,” Powell said in a statement on Sunday. “I want to reiterate that in my entire career as an athlete, I have never sought to enhance my performances with any substance. It is not part of who I am or what I believe in.”
Simpson was apologetic in her denials of any intentional use of the banned substance and vowed to fight to clear her name.
“This is a very difficult time for me. As an athlete, I know I am responsible for whatever goes into my body,” said Simpson on Sunday, also through a release.
“I would not intentionally take an illegal substance of any form into my system. I want to sincerely say to my family (especially my parents, grandparents and siblings), Paul Doyle (agent), MVP track club, fellow athletes, former sponsors and the rest of Jamaica that l am deeply sorry for any hurt or embarrassment this positive test may cause, and my team and I will do everything we can to get this issue dealt with as best as we can,” Simpson’s statement continued.