Guyana to test athletes for illegal performance enhancement drugs

Last Updated on Tuesday, 31 January 2017, 16:25 by Denis Chabrol

Director of Sport, Christopher Jones.

Guyana’s National Sports Commission (NSC) will soon be testing athletes for illegal enhancement drugs to improve their performances, according to the Director of Sport, Christopher Jones.

Director of Sport, Christopher Jones warned that athletes tested positive would be disqualified in keeping with anti-doping laws that would Guyana soon adopt. “Any tournament that we (government) are funding, those athletes would have to subject themselves to testing and if they would have used (an illegal substance) in a few days or recently, they would see themselves being disqualified from participating,” Jones told the Government Information Agency (GINA).

According to Jones, the NSC will be interacting with the various sporting associations and athletes on what is acceptable regionally and internationally as it relates to anti-doping.

“In Guyana in particular, it is not something that is being driven by the sport authorities so you have a lot of our locals will fall prey that they believe they can use these substances, participate in sports, do well and that is what will elevate them,” Jones added. He said the meeting with the associations would set the tone for the way forward .

Additionally, the NSC will also be doing educational talks in primary and secondary schools. “We are going to be doing programmes in schools as well educating them about anti-doping and the expectations of the regional and international body for persons who are involved in sports,” Jones told GINA.

He said, targeting athletes at a young age is critical and will make them aware that using an illegal substance such as “weed” will not make them a better athlete but destroy their potential career.

According to Jones, the anti-doping initiative is another step by the government to  raise the standard of sports in Guyana.

Recently, Guyana’s leading cyclist Alanzo Greaves was slapped with a three year ban in addition the one-year ban he received in 2016.

The ban was given to Greaves for his Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) in 2015 and was handed down by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).