THE TRAINER FOR Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson insisted today he didn’t give the sprinters performance-enhancing drugs and suggested it’s time for them to take “responsibility for their doping instead of looking around for a scapegoat.”
In a statement The Associated Press received from one of two email accounts for Chris Xuereb, the trainer is quoted as saying he has done nothing wrong since the Jamaicans hired him in May to provide massage therapy and nutritional help.
Powell, the former 100-metre record holder, and Simpson, a three-time Olympic medalist, tested positive for the stimulant oxilofrine at the Jamaican championships last month. Their agent, Paul Doyle, contends something in the new supplements the sprinters were taking caused it and “Chris is the one that provided those.”
The email quotes Xuereb as saying he was disappointed the athletes are blaming him for their violations.
“It is time the athletes took responsibility for their doping instead of looking around for a scapegoat, whether that person is their therapist, bartender or anyone else,” says the 500-word email, which details Xuereb’s relationship with the sprinters. “Athletes keep using the same story, which is to blame the scapegoat for their own wrongdoing.”
Earlier Tuesday, Italian police formally placed Powell, Simpson and Xuereb under criminal investigation for violating the country’s doping laws. The move came a day after Italian police confiscated unidentified substances in a raid on the hotel where the three were staying in the northeastern town of Lignano Sabbiadoro, following the athletes’ positive tests.
Police told the AP the raids were executed after a tip from the World Anti-Doping Agency. Doyle said he and the sprinters worked in conjunction with WADA on the raid after becoming suspicious that Xuereb might have given them supplements laced with a banned substance. Doyle also said Powell and Simpson were aware of the impending raid, but Xuereb was kept out of the loop.
“Asafa and Sherone have been tested more than 100 times each through their career … and never turned in a positive test,” Doyle told the AP in a phone interview. “Now they change their supplements and the first time they get tested, they have a positive test? It has to be something in those new supplements that has caused it. Chris is the one that provided those.
“We’re not saying he did anything deliberate, but it’s in those supplements.”
