Asafa Powell, a former 100 metre world record holder, has been issued with an 18-month ban from the sport.
The Jamaican failed a drugs test after consuming oxilofrine, a prohibited substance, at his country’s national championships last year.
Powell’s suspension has been backdated and will come to an end on December 20, 2014.
“This ruling is not only unfair, it is patently unjust,” a statement on the sprinters website read.
The 31-year-old claimed to have taken a legal supplement, Ephiphany D1, that was contaminated with oxilofrine.
Powell’s statement continued: “My team commissioned two private laboratories that confirmed that oxilofrine was present in the supplements, despite it not being listed as an ingredient on the bottle nor on its website.”
The prohibited substance detected in the Jamaican’s sample has been found, by experts, to have no performance enhancing effects when consumed.
The former world record holder tweeted earlier:
Thank u for all the support u have shown me over the last 9 months – it means so much. You can find my statement here https://t.co/Pgwyzx1Q6Y
— Asafa Powell (@officialasafa) April 10, 2014
Powell’s team has began preparations for an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in Switzerland.
The Jamaican’s statement concluded: “I want to reiterate that I have never knowingly taken any banned substances.
“I did all the necessary checks before taking Ephiphany D1 and it is my hope that the CAS will prove to be a more open and fair avenue for the review of all the facts in my case; facts and truth that the were not taken into to consideration at my initial hearing.”
Powell’s full statement can be found here.
