KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaican sprinter Steve Mullings was banned for life by his Caribbean country's anti-doping body on Monday after having been found guilty of a second drugs offense.
A three-member disciplinary panel in Jamaica's capital announced the ban four days after Mullings was found to have ingested furosemide, a banned diuretic and masking agent, at the sprinting powerhouse's national trials in June.
"It is important that we send a strong message that doping is unacceptable in sports," said Lennox Gayle, who headed the panel.
After testing positive, Mullings was dropped from the Jamaican squad heading to the world championships in South Korea.
Mullings, who did not attend the hearing in Kingston, couldn't be reached for comment. But his lawyer, Alando Terrelonge, said the panel's refusal to allow his client to testify via an Internet phone service from his home in the United States had hurt him.
Terrelonge didn't say why Mullings declined to come to the hearings or if he will appeal.
In 2004, Mullings was banned from athletics for two years after failing a drug test during qualifying for the 2004 Olympics.
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