THE athletes affiliated to the MVP track club, who failed to report for Jamaica’s six-day pre-World Championships camp in Nuremburg in August, was yesterday cleared by the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA’s) independent disciplinary panel.

The three-member panel, which is chaired by former Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe, yesterday ruled in a one-page document to the JAAA executive that “no sanction” be brought against the athletes.

“The memebers of the disciplinary committee met on Thursday November 5, 2009. Having given due consideration of the matter, the Committee is unanimously of the veiw that there is no further action that can be taken,” the statement said.

“A sanction was imposed against the offenders and at the instance of the president of the IAAF, the sanction was withdrawn. To attempt to revisit the matter would be tantamount to to trying them twice,” the statement added.

The six athletes who missed the camp were Shelly-Ann Fraser, Melaine Walker, Brigitte Foster-Hylton, Asafa Powell, Shericka Williams and Kaleise Spencer. Their absence prompted Aris and the JAAA to take steps to have them withdrawn from the championships.

However, the IAAF intervened and the athletes were allowed to compete by the national association, which indicated at the time that sanctions could follow after the championships.

The other members of the panel, which was chosen by the JAAA’s in January, were former Attorney General Winston Spaulding and former Chief of Staff of the Jamaica Defence Force Major General John Simmond. The JAAA had referred the matter to the disciplinary panel on October 25.

The ruling also indicated that: “Something needs to be done to get the coaches to be more corporative. They need to understand that it is the JAAA that is invited to these meets and the athletes only become eligible to participate if selected by the JAAA,” the statement read.

Reacting to the ruling last evening, Aris told the Observer that his executive accepted the findings.

“The only reaction that can be given is that the decision of this commitee is final as stated by the JAAAs before,” he said.

Jamaica ended the championships with a record 13 medals, comprising seven gold, four silver and two bronze. All of the six athletes in question contributed to the nation’s medal tally. Fraser won the 100m and shared in the 4×100 gold, Walker won the 400m hurdles, Foster-Hylton won the 100m hurdles, Powell won bronze in the 100m and shared in the 4×100 gold, Williams won silver in the 400m and shared in the 4×400 relay silver, while Spencer also shared in the mile-relay silver.

— Kayon Raynor