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AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT ISSUES DRUG TEST NOTICE TO USAIN BOLT

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Former speedster eyeing a professional football career, Usain Bolt,  was left furious as the Australian anti-doping authority (Asada) issued him a notice for drug test.

The drug test notice sent to Usain Bolt

The Jamaican eight-time Olympic sprint champion queried why he should be subjected to such test when he was not yet a professional footballer.

He has been on trial  with Central Coast Mariners and scored a brace for the club last Friday.

According to the BBC, Bolt said he had been told he wss being tested as he is an “elite athlete”.

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The 32-year-old Jamaican retired from athletics in 2017.

“So guys I’ve retired from track and field looking to become a footballer but look at this,” Bolt said in an Instagram post on Monday, in which he showed the drugs test notice.

The notice from Asada requesting blood and urine appears to have been issued by Football Federation Australia.

It is understood that even as a trialist, Bolt is officially registered with the club, and is therefore subject to drug testing.

Bolt’s trial period with the A-League club came to an end at the weekend and the Mariners now have to decide whether to offer the Jamaican a permanent deal, a further trial period or release him.

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“How am I going to get a drug test today? I’m not even a professional footballer yet. Seriously,” the 100m and 200m world record holder added.

“So I asked the lady, ‘Why am I getting drug tested when I haven’t signed for a club yet?’ and she said they told her I’m an elite athlete so I have to get tested. Okay then.”

Asada defines an athlete as a person who “competes in sport and who is subject to the National Anti‑Doping Scheme”.

 

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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