Sprinter yet to be banned for dope

KINGSTON: Steve Mullings, Jamaica’s 200-metres champion who has tested twice for testosterone, is yet to be officially banned from the sport, the Jamaica Observer reported on  Saturday. The three-member panel of inquiry examining his two letters for two hours on Thursday night at the Sports Development Foundation in Kingston has engaged the sprinter’s UK-based lawyer, who was not named.

Dr Alfred Sangster, chairman of the panel that included attorneys Dennis Morrison and Anthony Pearson, said the panel reviewed the first letter explaining Mullings’ positive dope test and the second clarifying why he could not face the panel in person. The two other members of the panel, professor Errol Morrison and Dr Aggrey Irons were unable to attend the meeting. Mullings had indicated in his second letter that the resources from his school, University of Massachusetts made it impossible for him to travel to Jamaica.

After only their first meeting on Mullings’ dope case, Dr Sangster said the panel could not yet make their recommendation to the local governing body, the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA), on how to deal with the former Vere Technical student. “The panel took advice and though he signed a letter saying he could not come, there is a lawyer in the case on his behalf and we wanted to make sure that in allowing this process to go forward, the signature (on the letter) is notarised and the lawyer is no longer going to be engaged in the  process,” Dr Sangster explained.

He further pointed out that the panel did not want to take a position and then have to withdraw that stance later because of legal matters. Dr Sangster said the next move was to write Mullings, wait for his response, and then submit a formal response to the JAAA. Mullings tested positive for testosterone, an illegal anabolic steroid used to strengthen muscle tone and bone mass, after the National Championships last June and was dropped from the team to the 2004 Olympic Games in August.