Zero tolerance on athletes who do not comply with whereabouts submissions

Feb 01, 2017 Sports

Non compliant athletes won’t be able represent Guyana under aegis of the GOA

Despite being very patient with local athletes apart from hosting consistent anti-doping

Dr. Karen Pilgrim

training sessions, the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) is still not getting the desired participation from athletes in relation to the submission of their whereabouts information as stipulated by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).
Dr. Karen Pilgrim who is the GOA’s Representative on the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO) stated that according to GOA rules, all athletes at a national level are supposed to submit whereabouts forms to the GOA for the purpose of doing random out of competition testing.
The media was informed that this process has not done well over the years which have now prompted Dr. Pilgrim and Doping Control Officer Charles Corbin to come up with a strategy that would see athletes complying.
Recommendations should be presented at the next Council Meeting of the GOA.
”Last week Thursday we have started to discuss if we can find a different way, a more user friendly way of getting the information because whereabouts information, we know it’s not an easy thing to do even though it’s a requirement because it means the athletes have to be telling us for every single day of the year where they can be found for at least an hour.”
Dr. Pilgrim said that getting athletes to complete those forms and submit same would have been, “virtually impossible”.
GOA President, K. A Juman Yassin was unapologetic in stating that athletes who do not comply with the requirement would not be able to represent Guyana under the banner of the GOA.
Yassin informed that Guyana is expected to send about 24 athletes (six disciplines) to the Islamic Solidarity Games set for Baku, Azerbaijan from May 12 to May 22, 2017 and they have made the threat to athletes before of ensuring that they comply.
”We have made this threat before but unfortunately in the past we did not uphold it but I know Charles is very strong on this. It was made at the council meeting and endorsed by all the members of the council and so we are going to implement this.”
The GOA, Dr. Pilgrim informed, has been doing a lot of anti doping training where federations have been invited to attend. This would continue in 2017 with a view to having athletes understand and appreciate the seriousness as well as consequences of doping.