Government set to rollout anti-doping testing

GUYANA, GINA, Tuesday, January 31, 2016

The government is taking steps to ensure Guyanese athletes avoid using illegal enhancement drugs to improve their performances. The National Sports Commission (NSC) will soon be introducing testing for illegal performance enhancement substances for athletes.

Director of Sport, Christopher Jones

Director of Sport, Christopher Jones, in an interview with the Government Information Agency(GINA), said that once Guyana adapts anti-doping laws, athletes participating in local competitions will be subject to testing.

Jones noted that anyone found positive for an illegal substance, will face the consequences. “Any tournament that we (government) are funding, those athletes would have to subject themselves to testing and if they would have used (an illegal substance) in a few days or recently, they would see themselves being disqualified from participating,” Jones explained.

According to Jones, anti-doping on the world stage is very important to sporting bodies.

The Sport Director said the NSC will be interacting with the various sporting associations and athletes on what is acceptable regionally and internationally as it relates to anti-doping.

“In Guyana in particular, it is not something that is being driven by the sport authorities so you have a lot of our locals will fall prey that they believe they can use these substances, participate in sports, do well and that is what will elevate them,” Jones explained. He said the meeting with the associations will set the tone on the way forward .

Additionally, the NSC will also be doing educational talks in primary and secondary schools. “We are going to be doing programmes in schools as well educating them about anti-doping and the expectations of the regional and international body for persons who are involved in sports,” Jones told GINA.

He said, targeting athletes at a young age is critical and will make them aware that using an illegal substance such as “weed” will not make them a better athlete but destroy their potential career.

According to Jones, the anti-doping initiative is another step by the government to  raise the standard of sports in Guyana.

Recently, it was reported that Guyana’s leading cyclist Alanzo Greaves was slapped with an additional three year ban to the one year ban he received in 2016. The ban was given to Greaves for his Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) in 2015 and was handed down by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

 

By: Isaiah Braithwaite

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