adminIn a dramatic twist to the drug scandal that has engulfed the sport, it can be revealed that Powell and Jamaican team-mate Sherone Simpson, who also claims to have been given the same supplements and failed a drug test for the identical substance, contacted the World Anti-Doping Agency and requested a police raid on the hotel where they have been staying with the physio, Canadian former athlete and American footballer Chris Xuereb, in Lignano, northern Italy.
After obtaining the necessary search warrant, Italian police arrived at the hotel on Sunday evening and searched the rooms of Powell, Simpson and Xuereb, before removing all supplements and medicines. Police said around 50 substances had been sent to a laboratory in Italy to test for the presence of performance-enhancing drugs.
Under Wada’s “strict liability” rule, athletes have a responsibility for what they put in their bodies but Powell and Simpson could receive a reduced punishment if they can show they unwittingly took supplements containing a banned substance.
According to Paul Doyle, the athletes’ United States-based manager, Powell and Simpson were expecting the arrival of the police but kept Xuereb in the dark about it.
“He (Xuereb) was brought in for questioning,” Doyle said. “I got a message from him afterwards, an angry message, saying he was detained for seven hours. He did use the word arrested, but I don’t think he truly was arrested.”
Doyle says he has no reason to suspect any “mal-intent” on Xuereb’s part and that, like his athletes, he was probably unaware what the supplements contained. — The Telegraph.
Online Reporter