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Jamaica Track & Field: Berlin reports crucial to closure
Posted by admin on Oct 10th, 2009 and filed under Inside Track
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By Orville Higgins,
Sports Vibes broadcast on KLAS Sports Radio on Friday, Oct 9, 2009.
Donald Quarrie
It’s understood that the manager’s reports are now in from the Berlin Games. To date we haven’t heard a peep from the JAAA about what impact these reports have had or exactly what course of action they are going to take. For a topic that was ‘ all the rage’ a few weeks ago, this one now looks likely to slip below the radar. Or will it?
I am among those who have a real interest in seeing how this one will pan out. It seems to me that the JAAA cannot allow the manager’s report to slip away quietly, a lot is riding on this report, the JAAA are almost obligated to make much of it.
The hierarchy of the JAAA made the serious decision of trying to send home six MVP athletes from the Games. They insisted at that time that they were well within their rights to do so. The two parties have different views on how communication was made between them – stating whether the camp was mandatory or not. The manager’s report should shed some light on this issue, one way or another.
The issue of Veronica Campbell-Brown’s refusal to run in the relays must also come up in that management’s report. Or will it? I remember talking to Donald Quarrie after the Games and he made it clear that he felt Veronica had behaved less than exemplary -although he did say that he wouldn’t be pursuing the matter. At that time, something about that statement seemed a little strange to me. I couldn’t understand why the technical director of a country’s athletics team was accepting the fact that an athlete under his charge stepped out of line but wasn’t interested in seeing that person face punishment. I felt at the time that irrespective of how you feel about a person representing Jamaica at the highest level, you were duty-bound to see them face sanctions for indiscretions they had committed, especially a situation as serious as, directly refusing to compete for the country. Not taking actions will lead to several implications which could come back to haunt us down the road. Mr. Quarrie’s report on that issue is therefore crucial.
I didn’t think much about it then, but now I wonder. Can a manager pick and choose what he puts in a report, or is he duty-bound to report on all the issues, especially the more fundamental ones? If you had listened to Donald Quarrie’s interviews and read what he was saying at the time, it was clear he thought Veronica was wrong by refusing to run but he was clearly not too keen on seeing her punished. Can his report now just omit that particular incident? Can his report now put a different spin to what he was telling us at the time? Can a private report differ from your public utterances and still be considered credible?
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The JAAA have said that they will read the management reports carefully and then decide from these reports whether the MVP athletes will face a disciplinary committee or not. They have said that it is not automatic that the athletes will face sanctions but from where I sit they have no choice, they must pursue a course of action against the athletes who were supposedly in breach. The very least that has to happen is that the athletes must face a disciplinary panel.
This disciplinary panel may well rule that there should be no sanctions against the athletes, but that’s not the point. The real story is this – if they don’t face a disciplinary panel, then the JAAA’s will be seriously embarrassed. They must have a disciplinary committee handing out some kind of ruling. If not, it is going to be obvious that they were too hasty and too keen to take the actions they did in Berlin. I repeat. The manager’s reports are crucial in deciding the fate of those athletes and then again, the managers’ report might not even matter.
Let’s put this all in perspective. The JAAA were convinced that the athletes clearly breached their rules by not attending the supposedly mandatory camp and they were prepared to kick them off the team at that time. This means, regardless of what is in those reports, they must put these people in front of a panel, to justify their actions in Berlin or they should come out and apologize to the MVP people for trying to throw them off the team. Will the ‘feel-good’ vibes of performing in Berlin mean that the JAAA’s should forget about this whole thing? Should that matter?
This one is being watched closely … These are my views, and as always, what say you?
Posted by admin on Oct 10th, 2009 and filed under Inside Track
52 views Print This Post Email This Post
By Orville Higgins,
Sports Vibes broadcast on KLAS Sports Radio on Friday, Oct 9, 2009.
Donald Quarrie
It’s understood that the manager’s reports are now in from the Berlin Games. To date we haven’t heard a peep from the JAAA about what impact these reports have had or exactly what course of action they are going to take. For a topic that was ‘ all the rage’ a few weeks ago, this one now looks likely to slip below the radar. Or will it?
I am among those who have a real interest in seeing how this one will pan out. It seems to me that the JAAA cannot allow the manager’s report to slip away quietly, a lot is riding on this report, the JAAA are almost obligated to make much of it.
The hierarchy of the JAAA made the serious decision of trying to send home six MVP athletes from the Games. They insisted at that time that they were well within their rights to do so. The two parties have different views on how communication was made between them – stating whether the camp was mandatory or not. The manager’s report should shed some light on this issue, one way or another.
The issue of Veronica Campbell-Brown’s refusal to run in the relays must also come up in that management’s report. Or will it? I remember talking to Donald Quarrie after the Games and he made it clear that he felt Veronica had behaved less than exemplary -although he did say that he wouldn’t be pursuing the matter. At that time, something about that statement seemed a little strange to me. I couldn’t understand why the technical director of a country’s athletics team was accepting the fact that an athlete under his charge stepped out of line but wasn’t interested in seeing that person face punishment. I felt at the time that irrespective of how you feel about a person representing Jamaica at the highest level, you were duty-bound to see them face sanctions for indiscretions they had committed, especially a situation as serious as, directly refusing to compete for the country. Not taking actions will lead to several implications which could come back to haunt us down the road. Mr. Quarrie’s report on that issue is therefore crucial.
I didn’t think much about it then, but now I wonder. Can a manager pick and choose what he puts in a report, or is he duty-bound to report on all the issues, especially the more fundamental ones? If you had listened to Donald Quarrie’s interviews and read what he was saying at the time, it was clear he thought Veronica was wrong by refusing to run but he was clearly not too keen on seeing her punished. Can his report now just omit that particular incident? Can his report now put a different spin to what he was telling us at the time? Can a private report differ from your public utterances and still be considered credible?
Your Ad Here
The JAAA have said that they will read the management reports carefully and then decide from these reports whether the MVP athletes will face a disciplinary committee or not. They have said that it is not automatic that the athletes will face sanctions but from where I sit they have no choice, they must pursue a course of action against the athletes who were supposedly in breach. The very least that has to happen is that the athletes must face a disciplinary panel.
This disciplinary panel may well rule that there should be no sanctions against the athletes, but that’s not the point. The real story is this – if they don’t face a disciplinary panel, then the JAAA’s will be seriously embarrassed. They must have a disciplinary committee handing out some kind of ruling. If not, it is going to be obvious that they were too hasty and too keen to take the actions they did in Berlin. I repeat. The manager’s reports are crucial in deciding the fate of those athletes and then again, the managers’ report might not even matter.
Let’s put this all in perspective. The JAAA were convinced that the athletes clearly breached their rules by not attending the supposedly mandatory camp and they were prepared to kick them off the team at that time. This means, regardless of what is in those reports, they must put these people in front of a panel, to justify their actions in Berlin or they should come out and apologize to the MVP people for trying to throw them off the team. Will the ‘feel-good’ vibes of performing in Berlin mean that the JAAA’s should forget about this whole thing? Should that matter?
This one is being watched closely … These are my views, and as always, what say you?
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