THE International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has flatly rejected an initial recommendation that star sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser gets away with a minimum form of penalty for a drug violation, the Observer has been reliably informed.

It now appears certain that the governing body for world athletics will go with a recommendation for a suspension of no longer than six months.

World and Olympic 100 metres champion Fraser tested positive for the banned substance Oxycodone at a meet in Shanghai, China on May 23 and has not competed since.

The three-member panel of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association’s (JAAA) disciplinary committee comprising retired chief justice Lensley Wolfe, consultant psychiatrist Dr Aggrey Irons and former attorney general and minister of national security and justice Winston Spaulding, had initially recommended a ‘slap on the wrist’ punishment for Fraser, which would have amounted to a public warning.

However, the Review Board of the IAAF, which includes president Lamine Diack of Senegal, at first requested additional information on the matter from the JAAA, which was followed by a review and another recommendation for the committee to reconvene and re-examine the matter.

The disciplinary committee met earlier this week and recommended a tougher form of punishment, which is likely to be accepted by the IAAF, a solid Observer source said.

A final decision is expected by early next week.

“The IAAF threw out the first recommendation. They just would not accept this ‘slap on the wrist’ business. A suspension must be involved for something like that,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

“She will get a suspension, which will not be more than six months,” the official said.

Under IAAF rules, Fraser could be banned for up to two years for the violation and the organisation reserves the right to hand down its own punishment in respect of high profile or ‘elite’ athletes like Fraser.

The IAAF instructed officials of her Maximising Velocity Power (MVP) Track Club to withdraw her from the Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Switzerland on July 8, after efforts were being made for her to compete.

Fraser’s management said that the sprinter took the drug, used in the treatment of moderate and severe pain, to soothe a toothache.

MVP officials admitted that the athlete erred by not reporting to meet officials that she had taken the pain killer.

Oxycodone 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.

Efforts are also being made for a local panel to interview Fraser’s head coach Stephen Francis, who could also be sanctioned.

Among the star athletes who are members of the MVP club are former 100 metres world record-holder Asafa Powell, sprinters Michael Frater and Nesta Carter, and female competitors, hurdlers Brigitte Foster Hylton, Melaine Walker, and Kaliese Spencer and sprinter Sherone Simpson.