The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) has sought to clear the air over its unwillingness to sign a document that would have allowed former men’s 100m world record holder Asafa Powell to return early from an 18-month ban last week.

In response to questions posed in an email to JADCO by the Jamaica Observer on Monday, the drug-testing body responded that based on the rules governing their operations and under the Sports Act they cannot “vary any penalty imposed, by the Disciplinary Panel or the Appeals Tribunal.”

A release over the name of Carey Brown, Executive Director of JADCO, that was also distributed to the media, said, “The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) takes this opportunity to state that JADCO, the Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (JADDP) and the Jamaica Anti-Doping Appeals Tribunal (JADAT) are independent entities and the Commission does not have any legal authority to vary any penalty imposed by the Disciplinary Panel or the Appeals Tribunal.”

It also went on to say that “The Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel is responsible for determining sanctions handed down to athletes, or other persons, for committing Anti-Doping Rule Violations. The two major bodies with the power to overrule sanctions imposed by the Disciplinary Panel are the Jamaica Anti-Doping Appeals Tribunal (JADAT) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).”

News surfaced last weekend that two global agencies, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world’s governing body for the sport, and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had agreed to shorten Powell’s 18-month ban to 11 months that would free him to return to competition immediately.

The document was said to require signing off by JADCO, who refused to do so, thus preventing Powell from competing at a low-keyed meet in Texas on Friday.

Powell and his former MVP training partner, Olympic silver medallist Sherone Simpson, had appealed their 18-month suspensions to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and up to this week were awaiting a hearing date, the Observer has learnt.

Powell and Simpson were earlier this year penalised by a JADCO panel after they both tested positive for the banned stimulant Oxilofrine at the Jamaica National Championships in June last year.