JUDOKA Ebony Drysdale-Daley says she’s considering a lawsuit against Jamaica Judo Federation (JJF), after having her suspension lifted with immediate effect yesterday.

Drysdale-Daley missed out on qualification for the Paris Olympic Games last summer because she was suspended for a year by the federation for what it said were breaches of its code of ethics and by-laws related to actions bringing the association into disrepute.

Dr Emir Crowne, a legal team member, describes her ban as unceremonious.

“They banned her in such a way that she was unable to qualify or participate in a qualifying tournament for the Olympics,” Crowne told the Jamaica Observer. “The way that shook out, Ms Drysdale-Daley would’ve been ranked number one and, due to the number of entries, she would’ve received a bye into the final. All she needed to do was show up, and whether she came first or second she would’ve earned enough points to represent Jamaica at the Paris Olympics.”

Through her legal team, completed by Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones, and Sayeed Bernard, Drysdale-Daley applied to the appeals committee to have her ban lifted. This appeals committee, consisting of Chair Rashid Hall, and Lyle-Anthony Golding, lifted the ban, saying that the federation “did not adhere to the correct procedures, both in invoking the Vexatious Complaints and Unacceptable Behaviour Policy and in following the requirements of the statutes.”

“This decision underscores the committee’s commitment to ensuring fairness and transparency in all disciplinary proceedings, upholding the integrity of the Jamaica Judo Federation’s governance structures while safeguarding the rights of its members,” the committee said in an official statement on the outcome.

Drysdale-Daley was tearful while expressing her thoughts on the outcome.

“I feel really relieved that I could come back to the sport I love,” she said while sobbing. “It’s been so depressing not being able to be a part of something that’s been a part of most of my life. I’ve been hugely disappointed by just the way I felt abandoned. It’s been very hurtful — I found it very hurtful and I am now considering suing.”

Crowne says the committee recognised the federation’s unprofessional conduct in how it dealt with a sanction, as the athlete was not given due course to defend herself. He described the breaches as “egregious”.

“She was never told of the specific allegations against her — we still don’t know the specific allegations against her,” he said. “It was just very general statements of bringing the association into disrepute, and she was never given the opportunity to be heard. She was never given a hearing before the president, Mr Dwayne Barnett, who initially invoked her ban. She was never given a hearing before the executive committee, which Barnett also sits on. At no point was she given a right to reply, a right to be heard — very, very fundamental things that deprive an athlete of not only her career, but an Olympic spot.

“At all times, whether it was the initial disciplinary ban initiated by the president, Mr Dwayne Barnett, or the executive committee which Mr Barnett sat on [and] which instituted a one-year ban, or the appeal itself which Mr Dwayne Barnett made arguments [regarding] before the appeal panel. So, at all times Mr Dwayne Barnett was intimately involved in this matter, and I would almost say he’s acted like judge, jury and executioner. There has been a complete and utter trampling of an Olympic athlete’s rights. Had we not launched this appeal, she would’ve just been in limbo.

“There’d be these allegations against her; we still don’t know what they are but they were enough to remove her from an Olympic qualifying tournament, ban her for a year, and all the time the [federation] acts with utter impunity. People hide behind a faceless organisation, and it’s yet another example of sports administrators not acting in the best interest of athletes or Jamaica. It is absolutely horrendous what Ms Ebony Drysdale-Daley had to go through.”

Drysdale-Daley became Jamaica’s first Olympic judoka at the Tokyo Games in 2021.