Former world 100m record-holder protests his innocence after receiving suspension for doping offence

Asafa Powell, an ex-world 100m record-holder and reigning Commonwealth 100m champion, has been suspended for 18 months after testing positive for the stimulant oxilofrine at the Jamaican Championships last June.

Powell blames the positive test on a food supplement and he described the ban as “unfair and unjust” before adding that he plans to appeal to the court of arbitration for sport.

His ban is backdated to the time of the offence, which means the 31-year-old will be eligible to compete again in December this year.

The news falls a couple of days after one of his training partners, Olympic women’s sprint relay gold medallist Sherone Simpson, was given an identical ban after testing positive for the same substance at the same event.

Powell, who held the 100m world record from 2005-08, said: “This ruling is not only unfair, it is patently unjust. Panels such as these, I understood, were assembled to allow athletes who consciously or unconsciously come into conflict with the rules of sport a chance at equitable redemption. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

“My team commissioned two private laboratories that confirmed that oxilofrine was present in the supplements, despite it not being listed as an ingredient on the bottle nor on its website.

“I would also like to share that, upon realising that the supplement contained oxilofrine, my team made contact with both the World Anti-Doping Agency and the United States Anti-Doping Agency, who not only ordered samples of the supplement from the manufacturer, but also tested and confirmed our findings.”

Powell says the test came from a product called Epiphany D1 and he added: ”The Usada has also since issued a warning on their website for athletes to avoid the product as it contains banned substances. This is the first time in nearly 12 years of being in the sport and over 150 tests that I have had an adverse finding. It is for a stimulant, a stimulant that is only banned during competition and experts have declared has no performance-enhancing effects.

“Sanctions for a stimulant and this kind of infraction usually range from public warnings to a ban of three months, six months in the most extreme cases. I was and am still more than prepared to accept a sanction that is in line with the offence. Instead, nine months later, what has been handed down is clearly not based on the offence nor the facts surrounding it. My team has begun preparations for an appeal to the court of arbitration for sport in Switzerland.

“I want to reiterate that I have never knowingly taken any banned substances. I did all the necessary checks before taking Epiphany D1 and it is my hope that the CAS will prove to be a more open and fair avenue for the review of all the facts in my case facts and truth that were not taken into consideration at my initial hearing.”

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