The World Anti-Doping Agency will conduct its audit of Jamaica’s anti-doping program next week, according to reports out of the island nation.
The news came one day after a report was published quoting WADA’s president’s dissatisfaction with the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) suggesting a visit not take place until the new year.
WADA officials will reportedly visit Jamaica on Monday and Tuesday.
On Oct. 14, The Associated Press reported that WADA was “concerned enough to investigate” Jamaica following reports that the nation’s anti-doping agency conducted one out-of-competition drug test in the five months leading to the 2012 Olympics.
The Telegraph reported that “non-compliance with the WADA Code” would be “the ultimate sanction” and that Jamaica is risking being banned from track and field’s biggest events, including the Olympics, until the situation is resolved.
“There are a number of options,” WADA president John Fahey told the newspaper. “You can read into that exactly what those words are likely to mean, but I don’t want to flag it up.”
The head of Jamaica’s track and field federation did not seem concerned that the likes of Usain Bolt could be barred from major international events such as the 2016 Olympics.
“I don’t think it’s a possibility at all,” Warren Blake told the Times of London, according to the Press Association. “What would London have been without Jamaica? What would 2012 have been without our athletes? It’s not going to happen.”
