'Minimum' penalty!

BY HG HELPS Editor-at-Large

Friday, August 20, 2010

A Jamaica disciplinary hearing has recommended a minimum form of punishment for World and Olympic 100-metre champion Shelly-Ann Fraser, the Observer has been reliably informed.

Fraser, who tested positive for the banned substance Oxycodone after competing at the Diamond League athletic meet in Shanghai, China on May 23, has effectively ended her 2010 season, as with only one Diamond League meet remaining, and the Review Board of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) yet to ratify or broaden the punishment recommended, she will not race again for this year.

The recommendation by the three-member local panel comprising retired head of the judiciary, former chief justice Lensley Wolfe, lawyer and former minister of national security and justice and ex-attorney general Winston Spaulding, and consultant psychiatrist Aggrey Irons, is for a "minimum punishment".

"A decision will be handed down soon," a source connected to the IAAF told the Observer on condition of anonymity, when this tabloid sought to find out the delay in making public, a decision on the fate of the multi-talented sprinter.

"The Jamaican Disciplinary Committee recommended a form of punishment, which is well below the maximum two-year ban that can be imposed by the IAAF.

"I cannot say what the punishment is, but it is much less than two years. Of course, the IAAF has the right not to accept that recommendation. This is an offence that

can attract a punishment anywhere from a public warning to a two-year ban," the IAAF source said.

Fraser was sanctioned after her urine samples reflected traces of the drug said to be used in the treatment of moderate and severe pain.

It has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances for 2010, as a narcotic, and is not regarded as a performance-enhancer, nor masking agent.

Fraser's management team has already stated publicly that the much-loved and admired sprinter erred by not informing meet organisers that she had taken the drug to ease pain caused by a toothache, before she competed at the China meet.

However, Fraser is not the only one who will likely feel the heat. Her coach, Stephen Francis, could be sanctioned as well, the IAAF source said.

"The real problem is how she came by it and her coach will have to answer some questions," the source said.

Apart from Fraser's misdemeanor, the Maximising Velocity Power (MVP) Track Club of which she is a member has maintained a clean record of drug testing over the years.

The club parades some of Jamaica's finest athletes, including one-time world's fastest man Asafa Powell, sprinter Michael Frater and 400-metre hurdler Melaine Walker.

High-ranking officials of the JAAA could not be reached for comment last night to comment on the latest developments.

A decision had been expected from the IAAF from July after the local committee met, but the failure of the five-man Review Board to meet has left the final decision in limbo.

The Review Board, which includes the IAAF president, Senegalese Lamine Diack and general secretary, has already seen the recommendation, but sent back correspondence to the JAAA for more information on the circumstances of the case.

The IAAF reserves the right to hand down its own punishment in respect of high profile or 'elite' athletes like Fraser.

While the local association can recommend punishment for such athletes, the IAAF is usually mindful that favouritism could set in on the part of the local body in handing down lighter sentences than fit the charges.

"The mere fact that the IAAF is deliberating, means that the recommendation from the local panel is for a reduction in the maximum sentence," the source said. "If the local association had recommended a two-year suspension, it would have been ratified long ago," the source added.

It is likely that the IAAF Review Board will meet at the end of the Junior Olympic Games being held in Singapore.

Fraser has not competed since she withdrew from the IAAF Diamond League Meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland on July 8, following reports that she had tested positive for the prohibited substance in China. Her decision not to run at the Lausanne meet was influenced by a directive from the IAAF, the Observer understands, and is in contrast to claims made by her MVP club that it was the organisation that decided that she should not run at the same meet.

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