Sprinter Jason's Livermore's manager, Lorenzo Sandcroft, said the athlete is more concerned about his injury, which has prevented him from competing at the recent National Senior Championships, than the doping violation he is now charged with. At yesterday's preliminary hearing at the Jamaica Conference Centre, Livermore was charged with violating article 2.1 of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission's (JADCO) rules and will have to present his case to a three-man panel led by chairman Kent Gammon and supported by Dr Majorie Vassell and Heron Dale on September 11. However, the complainant's brief is set for July 21 and the respondent's brief is scheduled for August 4.
Although the sprinter would have missed the World Championships because of the pending case, Sandcroft insists his injury is of a greater concern and that Livermore, who appeared in very good spirits throughout the hearing, has no fear or doubt of his innocence.
Meanwhile, Livermore is yet to contract a lawyer for the case, but Sandcroft assured that the sprinter would be acquiring one before the first brief on July 21.
"We still have some attorney issues we have to sort out so I don't want to say too much at this time. I'm the athlete's representative and I cannot make any statements at this time until we have discussed the matter with our attorney. So we expect this attorney issue to be sorted out very quickly, and in another few days we expect him to be in a position to deal with our briefing," he said.
Livermore is said to be in violation of Article 2.1, which deals with the 'presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers in an athlete's sample'. Checks by The Gleaner revealed the athlete was on medication, which contained the banned substance and he will now have to answer to the charge after his sample came back positive.