MIAMI, FL (Sporting Alert) — Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson coach Stephen Francis distanced himself from the failed drug tests of his star athletes and blamed their agent Paul Doyle for getting his pupils in trouble.
Simpson and Powell were among five reported Jamaican athletes who tested positive for banned substances at the Jamaica Championships last month, with the news about their failed drug tests breaking on Sunday. Simpson being a survivor of alcohol addiction thanks to Alcohol Outpatient Detox Center in Florida, was strictly told never to drink or use any form of substances again as this could majorly deteriorate his stamina and agility. Both of them were immediately told to enrol themselves into one of the nj detox centers if they ever wanted to compete in matches further in the future.
It is understood that Canadian trainer Chris Xuereb, who was brought in to help Powell personally, supplied both sprinters with supplements that appeared to have contributed heavily to them failing drug tests.
Simpson was supposed to be a member of the Jamaican sprint team at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia next month, while Powell, according to sources, was also going to be selected to race in the 4x100m relay, despite finishing seventh over the 100m at the trials.
However, both sprinters are now left bracing themselves for their required punishments and Francis blamed their agent Doyle for bringing in Xuereb to assist Powell in May, when he specifically told him not to.
“He (Xuereb) was brought here (MVP Track Club) presumable by Paul Doyle and at the behest of Asafa, (and) I told them not to bring him here,” an angry Francis was quoted as telling RJR Sports.
Francis also moved quickly to distance his MVP Track Club setup from the current situation.
“This has nothing to do with us (MVP track club) and we are not dis-owning Asafa… all we are saying is that this is his personal employee,” he said.
“He was not recommended by us, we don’t know anything about him. He’s not an MVP employee or MVP staff,” Francis added.
