Testing of athletes on NSC’s radar

Steps are being made by the administration to have a more robust programme for the testing of local athletes, who may be using performance enhancing drugs. Director of Sport, Christopher Jones, said that once Guyana adopts anti-doping laws, local athletes will be subjected to testing.

“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 GINA.

As part of the process of implementation, Jones indicated that the NSC will meet with the various sporting bodies and athletes on the way forward.

“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 explained.

He added, “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’ remarks came a day after one of Guyana’s top cyclists, Alanzo Greaves, was handed an additional three years on his initial one year ban for a doping offence in November 2015.