JAAA to sanction athlete's after Worlds

[Yuttie]

If there was ever a bigger set of intellectual midgets.


MVP stars could be sanctioned after Worlds

Despite reprieve...

BY KAYON RAYNOR Senior staff reporter raynork@jamaicaobserver.com

Thursday, August 13, 2009

BERLIN, Germany - The MVP athletes who were yesterday granted a reprieve to compete at the 12th IAAF World Athletics Championships following the intervention of the world governing body, will still face disciplinary action by the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA) following the biennial event.



That's the word from a highly-placed Observer source in the JAAA, who requested anonymity.

"It's far from over. The disciplinary panel involving some high-ranking Jamaicans will hear the matter after these championships in Berlin and sanctions will follow," the source said.

The athletes involved are former 100 metres world record holder Asafa Powell; Olympic champions Shelly-Ann Fraser and Melaine Walker, and Sherika Williams, Kaleise Spencer and Brigitte Foster-Hylton.

The JAAA wrote to the IAAF on Tuesday requesting that the six athletes be withdrawn from the World Championships, which would also see them ejected form the Athletes' Village.

But the IAAF responded by asking the JAAA to "reconsider in the interest of the sport", and the local body acquiesced.

The high-ranking source, however, declined to say what possible sanctions could be taken against the athletes, who missed Jamaica's mandatory six-day pre-championship camp in Nuremberg.

"We just showed a human touch and acceded to the world governing body's request to allow the athletes to compete, but I'm sure sanctions will be brought against them and possibly their coach (Stephen Francis)," the source added.

General Secretary of the IAAF, Pierre Weiss, made the announcement at a press conference at the Estrel Hotel last evening that the dispute had ended and the athletes would be allowed to compete at the meet.

This is the second consecutive year that members of the MVP Track Club and the JAAAs have been at odds over a pre-championship camp. There was similar controversy associated with Jamaica's participation at last year's Olympic Games in Beijing, China, when athletes from the said MVP club arrived late for their pre-Olympic training camp in Tianjin, China, exposing more of the bad blood that has existed between members of the MVP executive and the JAAA. No sanctions were brought against the athletes.

[Willi]

Newsletter strikes again.

[Willi]

Fiasco

IAAF intervenes
Demands reinstatement of MVP athletes
BY KAYON RAYNOR Senior staff reporter raynork@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, August 13, 2009
BERLIN, Germany - The Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA) yesterday rescinded its request to the world governing body to eject six members of the MVP Track Club from the Athletes' Village and withdraw them from the World Championships following the dramatic intervention of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) due to the non-appearance of the athletes at a mandatory training camp in Nuremberg.

As a consequence, former 100 metres world record holder Asafa Powell Powell; Olympic champions Shelly-Ann Fraser and Melaine Walker, as well as Sherika Williams, Brigitte Foster-Hylton and Kaleise Spencer, will be allowed to compete at the meet, which begins on Saturday.
General Secretary of the IAAF, Pierre Weiss, announced that the athletes would be allowed to compete at a press conference at the Estrel Hotel last evening, a few hours after the JAAA's initial request.
"We want to assure the quality of the championships," said Weiss, who was earlier quoted by the Associated Press as asking "Jamaica to reconsider in the interest of the sport".
Weiss was further quoted by the AP as saying: "We didn't like it," and that it was the IAAF's job to make sure nations fielded the strongest possible teams. "The World Championships, that is our baby. We take care of our baby," he was quoted as saying.
BERLIN, Germany - Top Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell moves past security personnel at the entrance of the Berlin Berlin Hotel on his way to an interview with the Observer yesterday. At left is American 400m legend, Lee Evans. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)
The exclusion of the high-profile athletes would have dented the appeal of the World Championships, as one of the most anticipated battles is between the Jamaican and American runners in the sprint events.
At the Beijing Olympics, Jamaica took five of the six sprint titles, leaving the US with none.
Less than an hour before Weiss' disclosure at the press conference, Howard Aris, president of the JAAA, declined to discuss the matter.
BERLIN, Germany - (From left) Howard Aris, general secretary of the JAAA; Garth Gayle; Donald Quarrie, technical leader; and deputy general secretary, Marie Tavares, outside the Berlin Berlin Hotel yesterday. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)
"We will speak at the right time before midnight tonight," Aris told the Observer on arrival at the Berlin Berlin Hotel where the Jamaican team is housed.
But the JAAA boss later confirmed that his body agreed to comply with the world governing body's request.
"They asked us to put aside domestic interests for the greater good of the sport, so we have agreed to withdraw the letter sent into Lamine Diack," Aris told reporters, according to CMC Sports.
Jamaican athletes Kaliese Spencer (left) and Christine Day strike a pretty pose in Berlin, Germany yesterday. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)
However, earlier in the day IAAF spokesman Nick Davis, in an e-mailed response to questions from the Observer, confirmed that the JAAA had written his organisation on Tuesday requesting that the above mentioned athletes be eliminated from the entry list for the 12th World Championships. "No reason was given," Davis said.
Meanwhile, Powell, in reacting to the intervention of the world governing body, said: "It's just really bad how our own country was fighting us down and someone else had to stop it. I honestly wasn't worried, I more felt bad about the whole situation because my own people were fighting me off (the team) and I've been in this thing for a while now."
The former world record holder will be competing in his third World Championships, following Paris, France 1993 and Osaka, Japan 2007, and admitted that he was not comfortable about competing.
"I'm going out there to do my best, but I'm not comfortable. I don't feel comfortable being around the whole camp," he said. Asked whether he and his clubmates would be staying in the village, the 2006 Commonwealth champion replied: "I guess we'll be staying in the village, but I don't know if they (JAAA) have anything else against us being in the village, so we'll just have to wait until further notice."
However, he indicated that the other athletes are "pretty much happy that they're going to compete".
The JAAA has been in dispute with the athletes after they missed the country's mandatory six-day training camp which ran from August 6 through 11, and especially after similar issues have plagued the team in recent years.
According to the AP, Jamaica's technical director Don Quarrie said training camp attendance has been an issue for years, and that the JAAA was only asking for basic co-operation from the athletes.
"You come to training camp, get morale of the team together, get relay practices," Quarrie was quoted as saying. "And also, we need to know whether someone is injured. There are some people who think they don't have to abide by those rules. To be honest with you, it is not really sometimes the athletes, but the people behind the athletes."
The 1976 Montreal Olympics 200 metres gold medallist added that a similar dispute had soured the mood ahead of last year's Olympics, "and before that too. It reached a point where they flatly ignored our request to come to camp."
The culmination of yesterday's saga was good news for Paul Doyle, the agent of five of the athletes. "We're relieved to have that news," he was quoted by the AP. "It was all very unnecessary."
Powell and his clubmates arrived at the Athletes' Village at the Berlin Berlin Hotel on Tuesday directly from their training base in Lignano, Italy, and the 26-year-old sprinter reiterated that he had not received anything in writing from the JAAA saying that the Nuremberg camp was mandatory.
"The entry form that we filled out didn't say the pre-championships camp was mandatory. It said this camp was mandatory, which is the Athletes' Village," Powell explained.

var addthis_pub="jamaicaobserver";

[Bricktop]

The former world record holder will be competing in his third World Championships, following Paris, France 1993 and Osaka, Japan 2007, and admitted that he was not comfortable about competing.
"I'm going out there to do my best, but I'm not comfortable. I don't feel comfortable being around the whole camp," he said.

Man a formulate him excuse dem early dis time

[Willi]

But yuh nuh seh di man nuh have no chance? LoL

What excuse?

Who expects anything?

[Mosiah]

I don't feel comfortable being around the whole camp

Dem have swine flu or someting?! This holier-than-thou attitude from MVP is troubling.

[Willi]

Would you feel comfortable with JAAA dagger eyes pon yuh?

Read the article. He says most of the other athletes are happy for him.

If attitude can trouble you, what about dutty looks??? LoL

[Sickko]

LOL! This was why I really wanted the JAAA to let them run anyways and not give them any excuses...

[Sickko]

I heard this from early yesterday and could be part of the 'agreement' with IAAF.

Any ban from the JAAA that is accepted by the IAAF would mean they cant run in any IAAF santioned meet for the period and that would mean loss of earning.

I mentioned to a contact in the camp that a ban next year would not mean much given that the only 'major' meet is the Commonwealth games whoich comes pretty much at the end of the season and will be held in India which might not be as enticing as say if it was held in say Paris or Milan.