Caribbean RADO Newsletter

I t is my distinct pleasure to

welcome you to this online

version of RADO inTouch which

presents a glimpse into the op-

erations and activities of the

Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping

Organization which is based in

Barbados and housed at the Bar-

bados Olympic Association

(BOA).

Since assuming office as Regional Administrator

in October 2010, I have been busy interacting with

our 14 member countries, their respective Board

Members, with staff at World Anti-Doping Agency

(WADA), Caribbean Governments, National Olym-

pic Committees, accredited laboratories, and with

national, regional and international sporting organi-

zations, all in an effort to give full effect to the RA-

DO’s mandate.

The vision of the RADO is to foster and promote

doping-free sport in the Caribbean. Its mission is to

promote and coordinate the fight against doping in

sport in all its forms in the Caribbean and specifical-

ly among the 14-member countries.

Thanks to the unswerving and steadfast efforts

of Chairman, Dr. Adrian Lorde and former Adminis-

trator, Neil Murrell, the organization has grown

incrementally and is considered to be one of

the strongest RADOs globally in terms of its

capacity to respond to requests for doping control,

delivery of education, and ability to cater to the

varying needs of its member countries.

One of the top secrets of the RADO’s operation

is its Doping Control Officers or DCOs as they are

familiarly called. DCOs must be well-trained and

certified to execute their doping control functions

with the highest level of professionalism and integ-

rity by “documenting what they do and doing what

they document”.

The anti-doping family is a small yet tightly knit

unit that functions efficiently and effectively to

eradicate drug use from sport. I welcome you to

this edition of RADO inTouch and hope that you

enjoy this publication as much as I have enjoyed

producing it for you.

InsideInsideInside ThisThisThis IssueIssueIssue

November 2011 inTouch

Page 6

Important

partnership

Page 5

From Cayman

and Suriname

Page 3

Respect

from DCOs

Page 2

Our Chairman

Speaks

Photos above from left: Mr. Neil Murrell, Mrs. Tessa

Chaderton-Shaw, and Dr. Adrian Lorde.

T he Caribbean RADO has con-tinued to be one of the lead-

ing RADOs in the world. With our cadre of 52 Doping Control Offic-ers in our 14 member countries, we continue to make strides.

It has been over one year since our Regional Administrator, Mrs Tessa Chaderton-Shaw, joined us. She has added the feminine touch

to our operations with a number of new initiatives. Determined and well organised, she was successful in getting all 14 of our RADO Board members to attend our board meeting in Paramaribo, Suriname in February this year, in addition to having each country nominate one member each for the Results Management and Therapeutic Use Exemption workshops. Most of our members now have their anti-doping rules in place, conduct edu-cational sessions and out-of com-petition testing, compliant with WADA.

Mrs Chaderton-Shaw has visit-ed most of the RADO countries and interfaced with their Sports Ministers and National Olympic Committees. Press interviews have been held in some countries. She also presented at the Organization of Caribbean Administrators of Sports and Physical Education

(OCASPE) meeting held in St. Vin-cent and the Grenadines. We have produced many brochures and other educational material for the region. With WADA’s permission, several were co-branded with the Caribbean RADO’s logo and tele-phone number.

This period saw the RADO being contracted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to conduct in and out-of-competition tests in the region. This was a great experi-ence for our RADO trained Doping Control Officers. They were also utilized doing WADA-supported out-of-competition tests in their countries.

A major highlight was the intro-duction of anti-doping education and testing at the University of the West Indies’ Games held in Barba-dos. This was a landmark achieve-ment as it was the first time that such testing was held in the vari-ous sports by Caribbean university students. Needless to say, all re-sults were negative.

The Caribbean RADO however faces a crossroad as funding for its continual role is now being negoti-ated. I am hopeful that something positive will occur as the Govern-ment of Barbados seeks funds to continue the hosting of the RADO office there. The meeting with the

Minister of Sport, the Hon. Ste-phen Lashley, and WADA’s Direc-tor General, Dave Howman, and Director, Education and Program Development, Rob Koehler in Sep-tember served to highlight the im-portance and commitment shown by WADA to the Caribbean RADO.

The Caribbean RADO has been able to create an increased aware-ness of anti-doping in the region. The RADO now needs to go for-ward as our Results Management and Therapeutic Use Exemption Committees continue the work started in Paramaribo. I am pleased with the majority of the countries who have been pro-moting clean, drug-free sport but there are a few who have been lethargic. The future, once funding is in place, looks bright for the RA-DO. Let us all continue to play our part, as we play true.

2

Board Members: Front Row (l to r): Shanwell Gardiner (Turks & Caicos), Dr. Adrian Lorde (RADO Chair, Barbados), Laurina Vidal (Dominica), Dr. Perry DeFreitas (St. Vincent & the Grenadines), Tessa Chaderton-Shaw, Ma-ria Jose Pesce (WADA), Tyrone Marcus (Trinidad & Tobago), Tom May (WADA), Jer-maine Wade (Montserrat). Back row: (l to r): Alfred King (Guyana), Donald McLean (Cayman Islands), Dr. Kenneth Louisy (St. Lucia), Dr. Sonia Johnson (Grenada), Clifton Keenswijk (Suriname), Leroy Greene (St. Kitts & Nevis), Dr. Philmore Benjamin (Antigua & Barbuda), David Morley (The Bahamas).

RADO inTouch 2010-2011

D oping Control Officers, or DCOs as they are familiarly

called, play extremely important roles in terms of executing doping control missions with utmost pro-fessionalism, calm and dignity. The Caribbean RADO is proud of the fact that it has 52 trained DCOs who represent a wide cross-section of Caribbean society. Some work in the sports arena, others are lab technicians, phar-macists, para-medical staff, coach-es and medical doctors. They can

be called upon to provide doping control in and out-of-competition in any Caribbean RADO member territory or beyond.

At times, they have to spend long hours at sample collection sites ensuring that the doping con-trol process is meticulously con-ducted. Every situation is different and every mission is different de-pending on the number of ath-letes to be tested, the sport in-volved and whether it is in or out-of-competition.

A DCO is guided by a Code of Conduct and must treat each ath-lete with respect.

Prior to obtaining accredita-tion, DCOs must suc-cessfully complete the RADO’s DCO Training Workshop which con-tains both theoretical and practical compo-nents; successfully com-plete one (1) on-site sample under the obser-vation of a qualified

Doping Control Officer. All quali-fied DCOs must sign a RADO-DCO agreement and must carry their ID badges when conducting missions.

Globally, DCOs act as vital re-

sources in the anti-doping arena and carry out their work quietly and discreetly. They play a signifi-cant role as “watchdogs” ensuring that athletes play clean and fair and remain true to their chosen sport. Any athlete who cheats is a liability to his country, to his sport, to his team and ultimately deni-grates himself. Additionally, any athlete selected for doping control should proudly accept this scruti-ny and submit himself graciously to the process. The message is: Play True. Play Fair.

I t is said that “seeing is believing,” and with

this in mind, it made a world of a difference to visit some of our mem-ber countries. These in-cluded: Suriname, Domi-nica, St. Kitts & Nevis,

Antigua & Barbuda, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Grenada, Guyana, Cayman Islands and the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Having gained this re-gional perspective, it is quite clear that RADO member countries un-derstand the tenets of the World Anti-Doping Code, yet despite limited funding and human re-sources, are making con-

certed efforts to main-tain compliance and to live up to the Code’s ide-

als. Ministers of Sports across the region as well

(Continued on page 4)

3

DCOsRADO’S

Best Kept Secret

Regional

Administrator’s

Visits

Mrs. Tessa Chaderton-Shaw talking with children at the Clifton Hunter High School in the Cayman Islands.

RADO inTouch 2010-2011

I n October 2010, Tessa Chader-ton-Shaw, former Manager of

Barbados’ National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA), as-sumed the reins at the RADO from her predecessor, Neil Mur-rell.

The ever affable, courteous and professional Neil was the RADO Administrator for 3 years through funding from the Com-monwealth Secretariat and WA-DA. Given the cessation of that funding, Neil returned to his sub-stantive position as Deputy Di-rector at the National Sports Council in January 2010.

He remains disposed to as-sisting the RADO in any way pos-sible and is very much involved in activities both at the RADO and at the National Anti-Doping Commission, where he is Secre-tary to the Board. He continues to be of tremendous assistance and support to the current Ad-ministrator and is a valuable as-set to the anti-doping communi-ty.

4

D irector-General of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Da-

vid Howman and Rob Koehler, Director, Education and Pro-

gram Development were in Barbados in early September to

pay a courtesy call on the Hon. Stephen Lashley, Minister of Fami-

ly, Youth, Sports and Culture. Substantive discussions were held and

expressions of the Government of Barbados’ commitment to WADA

and to the hosting of the Caribbean RADO’s office were made.

In addition to those discussions, the WADA officials held a Press Con-

ference at the Barbados Olympic Association’s headquarters where

they were engaged in a lively debate with members of the media in

relation to anti-doping generally, and to doping control specifically,

where Dave Howman disclosed that “the Minister’s very happy for

Barbados to continue to fight doping in sport . . . the issue that we

are now talking with him about is what I would describe as the nitty-

gritty details about money”. WADA continues to support the Caribbe-

an RADO office describing it as “one of the most successful RADOs of

the 15 that we operate.” (See photo at the bottom of page 7).

as National Olympic Com-mittees have underscored their commitment to anti-doping and endeavour to see their athletes perform at peak levels without prohibited sub-stances and methods.

During my visits, countries were encouraged to structure anti-doping education which can be delivered to primary and secondary school students, to potential athletes, and to medium and top level athletes. DCOs and Board members can play a pivotal role in the dissemination of this education. Cohesion of the effort among stakeholders is also vitally important and clarity of the mes-sage so that everyone is singing from the same song sheet!

The commitment from coun-tries that I visited was evident and this was made clearer by the direct involvement and demon-strated commitment from Board members. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for

each Board member to drive the process forward, to maintain the interface with their Ministries of Sports, to agitate and articulate for sports organizations and fed-erations to develop their anti-doping rules, and to ensure that in competition and out-of-competition testing is conducted. In the final analysis, the ongoing education of the athlete, his knowledge of the List of Prohibit-ed Substances and Methods, good guidance from his coach, medical doctor, nutritionist and physiotherapist go a long way in ensuring that he is in peak perfor-

(Continued from page 3)

RADO inTouch Is published by:

The Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organization Barbados Olympic Centre Garfield Sobers Complex

Wildey, St. Michael, Barbados

Tel. (246) 429-1998 Cell: (246) 836-2715 Fax: (246) 426-1998/271-0544

Email: [email protected] Website: www.caribbeanrado.com

Editor: Mrs. Tessa Chaderton-Shaw

Design & Layout E. Deighton Mottley

[email protected]

Mrs. Tessa Chaderton-Shaw has the attention of the Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony, Minister of Family, Youth & Culture in Guyana.

RADO inTouch 2010-2011

5

T he Cayman Islands Olympic Committee (CIOC) was proud to host its first Anti-Doping workshop

along with their newly-formed Medical and Anti-Doping Commission (MADC) on September 10th 2011. There was an overwhelming response with 43 partici-pants, representing 12 National Federations (NFs), local doctors, pharmacists, athletes and members of the general public. This was a basic introductory workshop to anti-doping as this is a fairly new effort in the Cayman Islands.

Guest speaker, Neil Murrell, former RADO Admin-istrator from Barbados, presented on various topics pertaining to anti-doping. Dr. Verley Campbell, a MADC member, presented a lecture on the Prohibit-ed List and there was a demonstration of the doping control process conducted by Mr. Carl Brown and Mr. James Myles, two Doping Control Officers of the Cay-man Islands. Participants left with a better under-standing of the roles and responsibilities of the CIOC and the NFs in the fight against doping, as well as what steps and measures will be taken in Cayman.

Two high profile elite athletes were in attendance, Cydonie Mothersill (WADA Athlete Committe mem-ber) and Ronald Forbes, who have both qualified for London 2012. Cydonie spoke on an athlete’s per-spective on doping in sport and the doping control process, giving young athletes a role model to look up to.

Each participant walked away with a “Say NO! to Doping” t-shirt as well as a folder with various bro-chures and educational materials, including a CD with 2 WADA videos and materials. Those who were una-ble to attend the workshop have stopped by the CIOC office to collect the information package. Workshop evaluations were collected at the closing of the work-shop to gather feedback from participants to prepare for future events.

T he year 2011 has been an exciting year for the Suriname Anti-Doping Authority (SADA). For

the first time since its establishment in 2009, SADA has its own office. Earlier this year the organization also received funding from the government to sup-port its activities.

SADA has had the privilege to host the Caribbe-an RADO’s annual Board meeting in February, to-gether with workshops on Therapeutic Use Exemp-tion (TUE) and Results Management (RM) after which TUE and RM committees were established. Furthermore, in March, SADA launched its first UNESCO project, an awareness campaign con-sisting of workshops held in 5 districts. The target group was athlete support personnel.

Our department of Prevention and Education has been very active this year and has developed doping prevention material, such as flyers, posters

and will continue to do so for the remainder of the year.

SADA has also conducted doping control under the supervision of RADO certified DCO Ivette Bona-part, who has been appointed as the Coordinator of Doping Control. The test results all came back negative for prohibited substances or methods. Several other tests will be conducted before year end.

A two-day DCO refresher workshop was held for our DCOs and chaperones on October 8th and 15th. It is very important to us that our DCOs and chaperones are kept up to date.

A website is being built for SADA which will soon be launched. The internet is an imperative tool in this age, and will be very helpful in reaching our athletes.

It is also worth mentioning that Clifton Keenswijk, SADA’s Manager, was a member of WADA’s outreach team educating athletes at the XVI Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico in October 2011. (See photo on page 7)

RADO inTouch 2010-2011

6

T he Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) presents an innovative face

to the sports fraternity in Barbados with the placement of a display featuring anti-doping in its foyer. Given the BOA’s hosting of the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organization’s (RADO) office as well as its continuing partnership, this display is testimony to the seriousness with which anti-doping, and clean, fair, drug-free sports is viewed by its Board and staff.

The display was unveiled on Monday, May 16th by President of the BOA, Steve Stoute and Chairman of the RADO, Dr. Adrian Lorde, both of whom expressed their unswerving commitment to anti-doping and their support of WADA, and by extension, the mandate of the RADO.

The display features testing apparatus used in the doping control process such as A & B bottles and

sample collection cups, encapsulated by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Code, which is the principle docu-ment that guides the implementation of anti

-doping policies and protocols for all stakeholders in sport, globally.

In addition, sports are reflected by a prominent green basketball and football, and the athlete,

through sneakers and socks. To ensure that the public has access to education-

al material and to the RADO office, material is easily accessible and available for distribution.

The 14 member countries of the RADO are promi-

nently displayed on a colourful map of the Caribbe-

an. The display sends a strong message to all that

“doping is fundamentally contrary to the spirit of

sport” and that no effort will be spared in ensuring

that the Olympic values of ethics, honesty and fair

play are upheld.

Redevelopment of RADO website

Erection of Anti-Doping Display Stand at the Barbados Olympic Association’s entrance

Conduct of in-competition and out-of-competition doping control on behalf of the ICC in Guyana,

Grenada, St. Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago.

Conduct of out-of-competition tests to ten (10) RADO member countries supported by WADA.

Distribution of educational material to RADO member countries

UNESCO-funded workshops in Suriname, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Cayman Islands, Trinidad & Tobago,

Grenada

Full RADO Board attendance at annual meeting held in Suriname

Regional Results Management and Therapeutic Use Exemption Committees established.

Four (4) RADO DCOs have been short-listed for participation in London 2012 Olympic Games.

Our Achievements

L-R: Mr. Steve Stoute, Mrs. Tessa Chaderton-Shaw, and Dr. Adrian

Lorde.

RADO inTouch 2010-2011

Changes to the 2012 List Following approval by the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) Executive Committee on September 17, the 2012 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods is now available. Noteworthy changes to the List, which will come into force on January 1, 2012, include: Formoterol added as an exception to beta-2 agonists

One of the most significant changes is the removal of formoterol from Section 3 ‘Beta-2 Agonists’ of the List when taken by inhalation at therapeutic dos-ages.

Taking into account recent research results and requests by members of the sports community, inhaled for-moterol at therapeutic doses is no longer prohibited.

The List prohibits the administration of all beta-2 agonists except salbuta-mol (maximum 1600 micrograms over 24 hours), salmeterol when taken by inhalation, and now formoterol (maximum 36 micrograms taken over 24 hours).

The issue of beta-2 agonists will con-tinue to be a focus of WADA’s research

activity in order to ensure that the ad-ministration of large doses or by sys-temic routes of these substances is prevented and prohibited, but that the appropriate care and treatment of asthmatic athletes is facilitated. Alcohol and beta-blockers

At the request of the Federation In-ternationale des Quilleurs (FIQ), alco-hol is no longer included on the List as a prohibited in-competition substance for ninepin and tenpin bowling.

After a review by WADA and follow-ing discussions with stakeholders, bob-sleigh and skeleton, curling, modern pentathlon, motorcycling, sailing and wrestling have also been removed from the list of sports included in the List in which beta-blockers are prohib-ited. Nicotine placed on monitoring pro-gram

In order to detect potential patterns of abuse, nicotine has been placed on WADA’s 2012 Monitoring Program.

It is not WADA’s intention to target smokers, rather to monitor the effects nicotine can have on performance when taken in oral tobacco products such as snus.

Nicotine is one of several stimulants added to the Monitoring Program, along with the narcotics hydrocone

and tramadol. Out-of-competition use of glucocorticosteroids has also been included.

Under Article 4.5 of the World Anti-Doping Code, WADA is mandated to establish a monitoring program regard-ing substances that are not on the List, but which the Agency wishes to moni-tor in order to detect potential patterns of misuse.

Caribbean RADO Chairman and WA-DA Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) Expert Group member, Dr Adrian Lorde, welcomes the new changes. He quipped, “The changes for 2012 reduce the workload of athletes and TUE Com-mittees with Formoterol no longer pro-hibited. Previously, asthmatics using Formoterol inhalers had to apply for a TUE by submitting Lung Function Tests which were costly and time consuming. With salbutamol, salmeterol and for-moterol off the prohibited list in the inhaled form, this makes things easier for all stakeholders.”

7

Clifton Keenswijk (3rd from left) with ath-

letes at the 2011 PanAm Games.

L-R: Rob Koehler, David Howman and Dr.

Adrian Lorde. See story on page 4.

RADO inTouch 2010-2011

8

I n June 2008, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) intro-

duced the “Regulations Regarding Participation in the Olympic Games” (also called “the Osaka Rule”). Part 1 of the Regulations states that “any person who has been sanctioned with a suspension of more than six months by any anti-doping organization for any violation of any anti-doping regu-lations may not participate, in any capacity, in the next edition of the Games of the Olympiad and of the Olympic Winter Games following the date of expiry of such suspen-sion”.

The effect of the rule is to ex-clude from participation in the next edition of the Summer or Winter Olympics, any individual who by virtue of committing an anti-doping violation has been sus-pended for more than six months.

On Thursday October 6, 2011 the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that the IOC rule was invalid and unenforceable. The reasoning of the CAS was that the Osaka Rule was more of a discipli-nary sanction than an eligibility rule. Further, the rule was found to be in breach of the IOC’s own

legal principles as defined in the Olympic Charter.

The immediate beneficiary of the CAS ruling was La Shawn Merritt, reigning Olympic men’s 400 me-tres champion, whose National Olympic Committee, the USOC, successfully defended his cause. Many others are now poised to benefit from this landmark deci-sion, including American swimmer Jessica Hardy, British sprinter Dwain Chambers and Trinidad and Tobago’s Ato Stephens, husband of Cayman Islands standout Cydonie Mothersill.

Basis of the Challenge The USOC held the view that the

Osaka Rule violated the World An-ti-Doping Code since, in its opin-ion, it constituted a second penal-ty for an individual who has al-ready served his period of suspen-sion. On the face of it, this would offend the ne bis in idem principle under which a person ought not to be punished twice for an offence arising out of the same set of facts. By contrast, the IOC’s sub-mission was that the contentious rule impacted solely on one’s eligi-bility for the Olympics and, there-fore, was not a disciplinary sanc-tion.

A useful consideration in analys-ing the controversial rule is the February 5, 2002 decision of the CAS Ad hoc Division on the occa-sion of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. That case involved the Latvian Olympic Committee, the IOC and bobsleigh athlete Sandis Prusis. The CAS Panel held the view that “an athlete has a legiti-mate expectation that, once he has completed the punishment

imposed on him, he will be per-mitted to enter and participate in all competitions absent some new reason for refusing his entry. If it were otherwise, there would be a real risk of double jeopardy.”

Similarly, in a 2008 case involving UEFA, Benfica and FC Porto, the CAS arbitrators in ruling on the question of taking part in the Champions League (CL) acknowl-edged that “the person affected must feel that the exclusion from the CL because of particular past conduct is a penalty for said con-duct.”

These principles appear to have been given weight by the CAS in the recent Merritt ruling.

Conclusion Someone once said there would

be no Olympics without lawyers. While that appears to be a gener-ous overstatement of an attor-ney’s role in sport, for Merritt’s case the observation remains true. Surely, between now and the opening ceremony of the Games of the XXX Olympiad, there will be more battles, both legal and ath-letic, as Olympic hopefuls bid for London berths.

So far, Merritt is the fastest qual-ifier.

[email protected] J. Tyrone Marcus is the Senior Le-gal Officer at the Ministry of Sport and Trinidad and Tobago’s repre-sentative on the Board of the Car-ibbean Regional Anti-Doping Or-ganization (RADO). The views expressed by Mr. Marcus are not necessarily those of the Ministry of Sport or the Caribbean RADO.

RADO inTouch 2010-2011