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THE WEEKLY GLEANER | DECEMBER 13 - DECEMBER 19, 2021 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | SPORTS 32 THE W EKLY GLEAN R | DECEMBER 13, 2021 - JANUARY 2 2 Livingston Scott/Gleaner Writer K EITH WELLINGTON, president of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), last week defended the association’s decision to expel Camperdown and Tivoli high schools from the Digicel Manning Cup. According toWellington, the eligibil- ity rule is clear and that Camperdown andTivoli Gardens high schools were in breach for the duration of the just-con- cluded first round. Following a virtual meeting , both Camperdown, one of the teams of the tournament so far, andTivoli, who were advancing to the second round for the first time in nearly a decade, were noti- fied they would no longer be allowed to take part in the competition. However, Camperdown’s coach, Donovan Lofters, believes ISSA has erred. According to Lofters, there was no transfer in his camp, saying the player in question had left Camperdown to spend a year at a football academy abroad before returning for the start of this school year. Lofters said the assumption was that the nature of the year off the student took to go to the academy could not be counted as a transfer and therefore there was no requirement to sit out a year. “As far as we know the last school he attended was Camperdown because those academies are not schools. “So when coming back (the assump- tion is that) they are not required to sit out or anything once they are coming back to their school. But now we are hearing they should sit out. “All the coaches I have spoken to view it the way I view it. But ISSA says as long as they are over 15 [years old] before September they have to sit out a year,” he said. But according to Wellington, the coaches were part of a pre-competi- tion meeting, where that specific rule was brought forward and discussed. “August 31st of this year they were not students of the respec- tive schools. If they registered after (September), they either had to be eligible for sixth form or sit out a year. They weren’t eligible for sixth form so they had to sit out, which did not happen,” he said. “The rule is clear. The fact is they were not students before September, and having been admitted in September, with both being over age16, they had to sit out,” he said. According to Wellington, despite Lofter’s disapproval of the decision, Camperdown’s principal has acknowl- edged and accepted the breach. “It is a very straightforward rule. It can’t be that it wasn’t clear when we have it in black and white and had a pre-competition meeting where that specific question was asked and addressed. “Even if he (Lofters) was not in the meeting, the meeting was recorded and sent to all schools. I went back and listened to the tape just to make sure we did not misguide anybody on this specific scenario,” he stated. Nevertheless, Lofter believes the governing body erred in the verifica- tion process and insists a system should be in place to pick up these things. “They did not pick it up because they send me the IDs saying that they are good to go. So ISSA should have a system that pick up these things,” he insisted. However, he admitted that the school must take some blame. “The school let me down also. They should understand the rule so they can protect the kids, coaches and every- body,” he added Meanwhile, Tivoli assistant coach, Jermaine ‘Teddy’ Johnson, put the mis- hap down to the inexperience of him- self and coach Christopher Nicholas, who are in their first coaching stints. “It’s disappointing that we didn’t get it right at first. But it is inexperience as first-time coaches. “We just have to learn from this and get it right next time,” he said. “We are really disappointed. We were looking to the challenge. But they said the player was supposed to sit out a year and that is where it went wrong. We just have to stay positive and know we have a good team next year,” he stated. Both Camperdown and Tivoli qual- ified automatically for the second stage of the competition, finishing first and second, respectively, in Group B. They will be replaced by Excelsior and St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS). Camperdown, Tivoli booted fromManning Cup Devante McCrae (second left) celebrates with Camperdown High School teammates after scoring a goal against St Andrew Technical High School during this season’s ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup first round. IAN ALLEN/PHOTOGRAPHER ISSA defends decision Rachid Parchment/ Assistant Sports Editor OLYMPIAN NESTA Carter says he has accepted a four-year ban given to himby the Independent Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel for the use of the banned substance Clomiphene. Clomiphene is a substance that boosts testosterone, and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances both in and out of competition. Carter, a now retired sprinter, is said to have been found pos- itive for the substance in a test done out of competition in March. He escaped a maximumban of eight years, for the second doping violation of his career. Carter, 36 years old, says his breach was because of being preoccupied with his circumstances.” “I relied on the doctor treating me to ensure that the medication was safe for me to use,” Carter said in a press statement. “I took the medication as prescribed, solely to treat my ongo- ing medical condition, not as a per- formance enhancement. My focus at the time was my quality of life, not my sporting career. “I deeply regret this failure on my part to remain as vigilant as I should have been. Had I appreciated that Clomiphene was a prohibited sub- stance, I would have either sought a TUE (therapeutic use exemption), or officially retired before starting the medication. “The last thing I wanted was to leave the sport with a further stain on my career that could tarnish Jamaica’s sprinting tradition.” The panel, which comprised chair- man Kent Gammon, Japheth Ford, and Heron Dale came to a unanimous deci- sion on Carter’s punishment. “The disciplinary panel, we found that the athlete had been in breach of Article 2.1.1 of our rules and, there- fore, we found no factors that would mitigate against any reduction in the sanction under 10.2, which is four years ineligibility from the date of our find- ing, which is essentially November 30, 2021,”Gammon told the RJRGLEANER Communications Group . Carter’s first ban came in 2017 after retroactively testing positive for methylhexaneamine from a sample taken from the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. That ban lasted three months, but it also resulted in Jamaica’s men’s 4x100m relay team at the Games being disqualified and losing its gold medal. That team also consisted of Michael Frater, Usain Bolt, and Asafa Powell. Nesta Carter gets second doping ban CARTER