JADCO closes doors
Local anti-doping agency to conduct hearings in private
IN AN effort to closer align itself to international standards, The Jamaica AntiDoping Commission will conduct all antidoping cases behind closed doors, according to chairman Alexander Williams. Speaking at the association’s Decennial Gala on Wednesday night at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in Kingston, Williams said that the move is already a common practice worldwide and will now be applied to local hearings. “Worldwide hearings dealing with anti-doping rules violations are conducted in private, and for whatever reason, JADCO used to do it in public, and so what we are trying to do is to align ourselves with the international standards,” said Williams.
The administrator added that the new approach would also prevent the unwarranted damaging of reputations of those who have had a case brought against them in cases such as those where there is an unintentional violation. “Please remember that these kinds of hearings are not criminal hearings. There is no necessary public interest in it until you actually come to a conclusion that there is a violation, and you need to add to that the need to protect reputations,” he said.
PROTECTING REPUTATIONS
“When you talk about anti-doping violation, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you took a prohibited substance. It could mean you missed a test, it could mean that you never made a whereabouts filing, and so in an effort to protect reputations and to maintain the international standards, what we are saying now, is that going forward, [we will] conduct these hearings in private,”Williams said.
Williams also disclosed that the organisation has taken steps to ensure that all doping hearing are conducted within 28 days.
“We can’t have litigation in this kind of forum
lasting months, and, I dare say, a year, so what we have done is to say in an indicative way, 28 days is the most [days it should take], from when a charge is made to when you finally make your decision,” Williams stated. JADCO is celebrating 10 years of existence this year, and according to Williams, the association has made many strides in their efforts to maintain international standards.
“I feel wonderful about it because JADCO is one of the leading NADOs (National AntiDoping Organisations) worldwide,” Williams said. “We are actually ahead of the curve in a number of ways. We are organised, we have legislation supporting our efforts, and we have now come to a position where we have routine testing without glitches, and so we are actually pretty well ahead of the game,” Williams said.
Newly appointed Chief Executive Officer June Spence-Jarrett was officially introduced by Williams, while Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Alando Terrelonge was the keynote speaker at the ceremony.