André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

Former World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) boss, Richard Pound, will be in the island on April 20, presenting at the third instalment of the Anti-Doping in Sport Workshop, being spearheaded by the University of the West Indies' Faculty of Medical Sciences and the Norman Manley Law School.

Pound, who has in the past openly criticised and questioned the efficiency of Jamaica's anti-doping programme, was invited as part of a clarification and collaborative effort and will be joined by other presenters - Jeffrey Benz, an experienced arbitrator and Richard Hildenbrand.

aim of workshop

Chairperson of the Jamaica Anti-Doping in Sport Committee (JADCO), Dr Rachael Irving, says the workshop will not only help to continue the education around doping in sport, but will also provide an opportunity for clarification for Pound and collaboration with international agencies, with focus on research and funding.

"It is all about international discourse; what really happened, I was in London with the diaspora and there was some big quarrel about what was said (by Pound). So I called Richard and asked if he was willing to come to a conference and defend himself," said Irving.

"Additionally, they can give us information that we need to know. Also, there may be concepts that they have that they should not have and we can discuss it in a civilised, academic way, so we came and put this together," she added. "We want to understand if we are doing something wrong, the areas that we need to tighten up and so forth, but we have to be open for discussion."

Also on hand to offer blessings on behalf of JADCO was chairman of the Education Committee, Dr Winston Davidson.

"I am happy that the University of the West Indies, together with the law school, have become proactive in attempting at this time to put Jamaica and the Caribbean at the forefront in academic work, in research and education in the area of doping," said Davidson.

"I would like also to point out that this work is badly needed and the fact is that we in the Caribbean have always seemed to be left out when it comes to the allocation of resources for research and development," Davidson added. "We in Jamaica; all the institutions stand together in endorsing this particular effort because it is necessary for Jamaica, which, at present, is at the forefront of leadership in some aspects of sport in the world. It is necessary for us to exercise this leadership."

The workshop will be staged at the Lecture Theatre, Faculty of Law, on the campus of the University of the West Indies, Mona.