The World Anti-Doping Agency warned Jamaica that "it risked expulsion from the next Olympics and other major competitions if it failed to address failings highlighted by a senior ex-employee," according to Ben Rumsby of the London TELEGRAPH. WADA Dir General David Howman "urged the island’s government to investigate claims" by former Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission Exec Dir Renee Anne Shirley that its drugs-testing program "was completely inadequate." Shirley "accused Jamaica’s politicians and administrators of ignoring her warnings" that the positive tests returned by sprinter Asafa Powell and four other athletes were a "disaster" waiting to happen. Shirley said, "They believe Jamaica does not have a problem." Shirley "went public with her concerns this week in an article for U.S. magazine Sports Illustrated" (TELEGRAPH, 8/21). The AP reported that Howman said that the agency "was aware that there had been scarce pre-London Games testing done." He said that Jamaica "needed to respond to Shirley's statements," which include the revelation that Jamaica had no officer keeping track of athletes so that they could be tested out of competition. Howman said, "I would expect that they would do that both transparently and publicly pretty quickly" (AP, 8/22).
