Coach Francis not yet out of the woods
RENOWNED MVP athletics coach Stephen Francis could face a minimum four-year ban for allegedly supplying world and Olympic 100-metre champion Shelly Ann Fraser with a prohibited substance, for which she picked up a six-month suspension yesterday, the Observer has learnt.
Bruce James, president of the MVP Track and Field Club, told the Observer in June that Francis, who conditions several of the world’s leading athletes, including Asafa Powell, Brigitte Foster-Hylton, Melaine Walker and Nesta Carter — gave Fraser a painkiller which contained the banned narcotic Oxycodone prior to her racing at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Diamond League Meeting in Shanghai, China on May 23.
Fraser, who had been provisionally suspended since June, received a six-month suspension from the IAAF and will return to competition on January 7, 2011.
However, indications are that Francis, who has not spoken publicly on the issue since it first came to prominence, may also be punished for his role in the Fraser doping issue.
Observer sources say the IAAF has written to the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) requesting information on what the local body intends to do regarding a possible sanction against Francis, in accordance with IAAF rules 32.2 h and 40.3 b.
According to Rule 32.2 h, doping is defined as “Administration… of any prohibited substance or method” to any athlete, while Rule 40.3 b states that violations of the anti-doping rule for administration of a prohibited substance “shall carry a period of ineligibility of a minimum four years up to a lifetime ineligibility”.
It is further understood that the JAAA has asked for guidance in the matter, but to date has received no response from the IAAF. The local sporting body could also be severely sanctioned by the IAAF if it fails to bring charges against Francis.