Above: Jamaica’s Independence Park

By the Caribbean Journal staff

A three-member team from the World Anti-Doping Agency will be visiting Jamaica next week, the country’s government announced on Wednesday.

The purpose of the two-day visit is to “review the status of JADCO’s operations, including: its drug testing programme, staffing, governance, education programme, and current cases of adverse analytical findings against some of our athletes,” Jamaica said in a release.

Without specifying, the government said that “matters that have been raised in media reports will be fully ventilated and clarified,” particularly what it said was a “misleading and inaccurate assertion that Jamaican athletes are at risk of being excluded from International meets.”

The WADA team will include Rob Koehler, Director of Education Program and Development, Kerwin Clarke, Manager of Program Development and Rune Andersen, Director of Standard Harmonization.

It has been a difficult year for Jamaican athletics, with a number of Jamaican athletes having been suspended for doping violations – most notably Olympians Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson.

Pre-trial dates have already been set for five athletes who tested positive.