Drug testers swoop down on Reggae Boyz
ANTOFAGASTA, Chile — Two doctors from the CONMEBOL Medical Commission Anti-doping department visited the Reggae Boyz team hotel here at the Terrado Suites yesterday to conduct six out-of-competition drug testing.
The officers, led by Dr Hug Hugo Martinez and including Dr Gonzalo Gaiero, arrived at the team’s base around 9:00 am where they contacted the team’s management before executing their tests.
The six players, who were randomly selected, included Joel Grant, Kemar Lawrence, Wes Morgan, Daniel Gordon, Dwayne Miller and Deshorn Brown.
“This was a part of the mandatory out-of-competition drug testing,” revealed Dr Derrick McDowell, who heads the Reggae Boyz medical team here.
“We are going to have mandatory in-competition and out-of-competition testing, where we will have blood testing and urine testing, and this morning was specifically blood testing,” he added.
“We are going to have mandatory in-competition and out-of-competition testing, where we will have blood testing and urine testing, and this morning was specifically blood testing,” he added.
“They randomly chose six of the players and included in the six was Je-Vaughn Watson, who is not yet here. So a letter had to be presented as to why he is not here because a missed test is considered a failed test, and that was produced.
“Instead of him (Watson), they selected Joel Grant and everything went as expected. There were no hitches, the players made their self declarations, the declaration forms were presented and everything went well without a problem,” noted Dr McDowell.
The testing procedure took about an hour. As part of the protocol, two players will be chosen randomly at 75 minutes into each game, and they will have urine testing done and possibly blood testing as well. The doping control officers can also decide to visit training sessions or the team hotel to conduct testing as well.
And in an update of the physical readiness of the players, Dr McDowell told the Jamaica Observer that “everything is fine, the clinical part of the medical is completed though we still have some testing to be done, but everybody is fit and ready to go”.
