We remain committed to the fight against doping in sport

THE JAMAICA Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) proudly celebrates 10 years of contribution to the development of sport in Jamaica.

National anti-doping organisations, such as JADCO, are defined as government-funded organisations responsible for testing national athletes in and out of competition, as well as athletes from other countries competing within that nation’s borders, adjudicating anti-doping rules violations, and anti-doping education.

Such testing and education has become integral to the development of sport ever since the revelations in 1998 surrounding wide-scale doping discovered in the Tour de France in that year. The World AntiDoping Agency, founded on November 10, 1999, to promote, coordinate and monitor the fight against drugs in sport, acts through the 139 national anti-doping agencies worldwide, and we are proud to be one of the best-run anti-doping agencies.

FLOURISHING WITH INTEGRITY

Sport, in whatever form, cannot flourish without integrity and the general acceptance by the fans that competition, which is the essence of sport, represents the genuine effort of sportsmen and sportswomen, and represents the beacon of hope of what man can physically and mentally achieve through hard work and training.

If sport were generally seen and accepted to be competition based on who was better at using chemicals, sport would then become a mere spectacle, purely for fleeting entertainment.

JADCO is well recognised as one of the leading national anti-doping organisations, having been established only two years after the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport came into force in February 2007, and which was the first global international treaty against doping in professional sports. JADCO is a member of the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations, which is a worldwide association of national anti-doping organisations geared to helping these organisations improve their doping and education programmes, to adopt best practices, and is an advocate on behalf of its members to ensure that WADA continues to address the concerns and aspirations of its members.

JADCO has come a long way from where it had only one doping control officer, but now a workforce of 16 such officers, in addition to 29 chaperones, who assist athletes at the point of testing.

We are especially proud of our educational outreach which includes advertisements on television and radio, our website and routine symposiums held annually. JADCO also conducts workshops in schools, partnering with parent-teacher associations and sporting organisations.

Our theme, during our decennial, is ‘Keeping Sport Clean, Forging Better Partnerships’, designed to strengthen our relationship with our local sport organisations. This has been going very well.

I wish to express my deepest appreciation to the Honourable Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Ms Olivia Grange for her tireless effort and commitment to ensuring that this important agency remains effective, compliant and an asset to athletes.

I also take this opportunity to convey my gratitude to the staff, and to the members of the board of directors, for their sterling and professional service to the country.

Many thanks also to the athletes, sporting professionals and the media for their understanding and support.

Protecting clean sport is not an easy task, but we at the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission remain committed to the fight against doping in sport. ALEXANDER WILLIAMS Chairman, JADCO