media_artricles :: 2014

Hackett banned again

Trinidad and Tobago athlete Semoy Hackett has been suspended from competition until April 30, 2015.

In a press release, issued by National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) public relations officer Peter Samuel, late on Wednesday night, the NAAA said that Hackett has been banned for two years and four months for her second doping offence.

Hackett had served a six-month ban after testing positive for Methylhexaneamine at the 2011 Trinidad and Tobago Championships.

The sprinter tested positive for the same substance in June 2012 at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, in Iowa, USA. She represented Louisiana State University (LSU) at the NCAA meet.

Hackett’s latest suspension is retroactive, starting from January 1, 2013.

Here is the full NAAA press release:

“The National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) takes this opportunity to address recent queries it received about the status of the Semoy Hackett anti-doping hearing that was due to take place in February of this year at the New York office of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It was correctly reported in the Trinidad Express, that same month, that the Hackett case was settled mere days before the hearing date of February 11, 2014.

“The Settlement Agreement between Hackett’s lawyers and those of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), in consultation with legal counsel for the NAAA, was arrived at after a significant period of discussion by the relevant stakeholders and co-operation by Ms. Hackett. As a result of a confidentiality provision, details of the agreement were never made known to the public and, for the most part, will continue to remain confidential.

“Notwithstanding this, the parties have agreed that due to the ongoing queries and in light of public interest considerations it would be appropriate, at least, to disclose the key element of the settlement, which was the period of ineligibility to be served by Ms. Hackett. The sanction accepted by Ms. Hackett was a ban lasting two years and four months ending on April 30, 2015. It means that Ms. Hackett will once again be eligible to compete from May 1, 2015.

“The NAAA will continue to play its part in promoting drug-free sport for all athletes and looks forward to the pending operationalisation of the Trinidad and Tobago Anti-Doping Organisation (TTADO), which was formed pursuant to the Anti-Doping In Sport Act 2013.”

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