Kinda late but...JADCo responds to WADA..

[Exile]

JADCo labels former WADA chief claims as 'vicious attack'



Story Created: Aug 14, 2012 at 10:56 PM ECT
Story Updated: Aug 14, 2012 at 10:56 PM ECT

lKINGSTON

The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCo) has strongly dismissed a claim by International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Dick Pound who stated that it is difficult to test Jamaican athletes because they are hard to find.
Following a marathon meeting of the board of JADCo on Monday, chairman Professor Winston Davidson described Pound's claims, as "a vicious attack on a small country".
"What Mr (Dick) Pound said was blatantly false. We knew it was spurious, but we spent the whole day trying to find evidence of it…we don't think they would do this to America and other bigger countries. It is a vicious attack on a small country," Davidson said.
On Saturday, Pound, who is also a former chief of the World Anti-Doping Committee, told Reuters Television that Jamaican athletes belong to "one of the groups that are hard to test".
"It is hard to get in and find them, and so forth," Pound was quoted as saying.
In a release late Monday, JADCo said it has never received any complaints regarding the athletes not being found for testing.
"This is confirmed by the fact that the WADA database (Anti-Doping Administration and Management System--ADAMS) holding such information of all tests and missed tests does not confirm his allegation," the commission said.
"In addition, JADCo has never received any complaints regarding the athletes not being found for testing."
JADCo was also concerned after former American sprinter Carl Lewis questioned Jamaica's testing system, following Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce's successful defence of their 100 metres titles .
Jamaica's athletes dominated the sprint events for the second successive Olympic Games. —CMC

[Islandman]

It should be noted that it was not WADA, it was the ex-president of WADA and they have now distanced themselves from it.

From today's Gleaner
------------------------

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has indicated it has no concerns about the operations of Jamaica's anti-doping authorities, despite recent statements from its former president, Dick Pound.

In a statement sent to the RJR Communications Group yesterday, WADA said the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) was deemed compliant in the compliance report passed by WADA's foundation board last November.

"In order to achieve compliance, an anti-doping organisation needs to satisfy a number of criteria with regard to its anti-doping programme, including having an element of out-of-competition testing," WADA said in its statement.

"It must also have in place anti-doping regulations that allow the programme to function effectively."

hard to test

The statement came days after Pound, an International Olympic Committee member, had told Reuters Television that Jamaican athletes belong to "one of the groups that are hard to test".

"It is hard to get in and find them and so forth," Reuters quoted Pound as saying.

After a meeting with commission members on Monday, JADCO head, Dr Winston Davidson, labelled Pound's "false" statements "a vicious attack on a small country".

Yesterday, WADA said many Jamaican track-and-field athletes are part of the IAAF's registered testing pool and are, therefore, also tested independently of their national anti-doping programme.

"WADA has visited Jamaica several times in the last couple of years to provide guidance and advice to JADCO," the international agency said. "We expect an invitation to return again this year as a result of the appointment of a new CEO at JADCO."

WADA also noted that JADCO is mandated to deliver a report every year to its stakeholders which identifies any anti-doping rules violations, and that WADA had received the report.

"As with all signatories, WADA will continue to monitor and offer assistance where needed to make anti-doping efforts as robust as possible," the agency said.