Mullings

Chairman of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCo), Dr Herb Elliott, says he is not surprised that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld his organisation's decision to ban Jamaican sprinter Steve Mullings for life.

The CAS, sport's highest appeal court, agreed with JADCo's November 2011 ruling, which was imposed on the 2009 IAAF World Championships relay gold medallist, after he tested positive for Furosemide, a banned diuretic and masking agent at the National Trials.

It was Mulling's second doping offence, after a positive return in 2004, which revealed higher than normal levels of testosterone.

"We had expected it, as we had done all we had to do in carrying out the doping control," said Elliott to The Star, in reaction to the CAS decision yesterday.

"We had a good legal man (attorney-at-law) in Mr Lackston Robinson, who presented the case very well to (Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel)," Elliott added. "In the meantime, Mr Mullings had brought in three different firms of lawyers and they tried to go back to the fact that the first doping case was not done correctly.

"They (CAS) did not agree with that. We have demonstrated that it was done how it was supposed to have been done and yet he (Mullings) had never made any mention of that before," Elliott continued.

The CAS says its panel rejected the athlete's claims that his 2011 test was "unreliable" and there were "problems" with the 2004 results.

"The thing about it is that we had expected this (the decision by CAS) and we're happy that we have been exonerated," said Elliott.

When contacted, the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association president, Dr Warren Blake, said that he was not officially informed at the time, but noted, however, "We would have no option but to go with the decision taken by CAS."

Efforts to contact Mullings' agent, John Regis, proved futile.

Elliott