John Campbell considering filing appeal against doping ban

West Indies batter’s legal team says “he was not properly notified by JADCO” with regards to incident where he did not provide a sample for testing

John Campbell swivels to pull, New Zealand vs West Indies, 2nd Test, Wellington, 3rd day, December 13, 2020

West Indies batter John Campbell is considering appealing against the four-year ban he was handed on October 7 for an anti-doping violation. The decision to ban Campbell was taken by an independent panel, after he was accused of refusing to provide a blood sample at his home in Kingston in April by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO).

Campbell’s legal representatives, Nunes Scholefield Deleon & Co, a Jamaican law firm, said in statement that “he was not properly notified by JADCO” with regards to incident where he did not provide the sample, and that there were “several mitigatory factors supported by evidence which were not challenged by JADCO and which ought to have militated against the imposition of the maximum penalty”. The statement also emphasised that Campbell has “to date never returned an adverse analytical finding for banned substances”.

“Mr John Campbell and his legal team are very disappointed with the ruling of the Independent Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel,” the statement, which was put up on the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) website, read. “Mr Campbell has been a clean athlete throughout his outstanding career as a batsman and he remains committed to clean sport…

“The allegation concerned refusing or failing to submit to sample collection after proper notification pursuant to Article 2.3 of the JADCO Anti-Doping Rules. Our client has, to date, never returned an adverse analytical finding for banned substances…

“Mr Campbell’s position was that he was not properly notified by JADCO. There were several breaches by JADCO of the mandatory International Standards for Testing and Investigations in respect of the notification of the athlete which, in our view, were not adequately addressed by the Panel.

“Additionally, there were several mitigatory factors supported by evidence which were not challenged by JADCO and which ought to have militated against the imposition of the maximum penalty, even if the Panel found that the athlete committed a violation…

“Our client will therefore at this time consider exercising his right of appeal … and will make a decision shortly.”

Campbell, 29, has played 20 Tests, six ODIs and two T20Is for West Indies. While he has not played white-ball cricket for them since 2019, he opened in all five Test matches they have played so far this year, scoring 248 runs at 35.42 with one fifty. (espncricinfo.com)