West Indies allrounder Andre Russell has been banned for one year from cricket for a whereabouts clause violation by an independent anti-doping panel in Kingston. The ban is effective from January 31, 2017 and will last until January 30, 2018.
The immediate impact of the ban is that Russell will not be able to play the Pakistan Super League in February and the IPL in April.
A three-member tribunal comprising Hugh Faulkner, Dr Marjorie Vassell and Dixeth Palmer, a former Jamaica cricketer, found Russell guilty of being negligent in filing his whereabouts on three separate occasions within a 12-month period in 2015. That - under the World Anti-Doping Agency rules - amounted to a failed dope test.
Patrick Foster, Russell's lawyer, confirmed the verdict and said he would discuss all options with his client including appealing the ban.
In March 2016, the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission pressed charges of negligence against Russell for not filing his whereabouts on January 1, July 1 and July 25 in 2015 despite several reminders through calls, e-mails and written letters.
In his defense, Russell had told the tribunal that he had not been negligent. Considering his cricketing commitments around the world, and his own lack of training in filing the required paperwork, he said he had authorised his agent Will Quinn and Tajae Smith, one of the JADCO officials, to take care of the process.
However, JADCO legal counsel Lackston Robinson disagreed saying the players had been offered education programmes on anti-doping which also involved filing procedure. Robinson accused Russell of "gross negligence" during the hearings.
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The rest of article at Espn CricInfo: http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/story/1080431.html?CMP=NLC-DLY
The immediate impact of the ban is that Russell will not be able to play the Pakistan Super League in February and the IPL in April.
A three-member tribunal comprising Hugh Faulkner, Dr Marjorie Vassell and Dixeth Palmer, a former Jamaica cricketer, found Russell guilty of being negligent in filing his whereabouts on three separate occasions within a 12-month period in 2015. That - under the World Anti-Doping Agency rules - amounted to a failed dope test.
Patrick Foster, Russell's lawyer, confirmed the verdict and said he would discuss all options with his client including appealing the ban.
In March 2016, the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission pressed charges of negligence against Russell for not filing his whereabouts on January 1, July 1 and July 25 in 2015 despite several reminders through calls, e-mails and written letters.
In his defense, Russell had told the tribunal that he had not been negligent. Considering his cricketing commitments around the world, and his own lack of training in filing the required paperwork, he said he had authorised his agent Will Quinn and Tajae Smith, one of the JADCO officials, to take care of the process.
However, JADCO legal counsel Lackston Robinson disagreed saying the players had been offered education programmes on anti-doping which also involved filing procedure. Robinson accused Russell of "gross negligence" during the hearings.
/snip...
The rest of article at Espn CricInfo: http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/story/1080431.html?CMP=NLC-DLY