By Nick Butler

Asafa Powell is appealing to reduce his ban from 18 months to three months ©Getty ImagesFormer 100 metres world record holder Asafa Powell has launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) seeking for his 18-month doping ban to be reduced to three months on the grounds he only committed a minor offence.


Powell tested positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrine during the Jamaican National Championships last June and, since news of the positive emerged in July, the 31-year-old has been suspended from competition.

Last month he was awarded an 18-month ban by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel, which was backdated to the date of his failed test on June 21, meaning he would be eligible to return to competition shortly after his 32nd birthday on December 20.

That would give him time to launch a bid to compete in the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) 2015 World Championships in Beijing next August.

But he is hoping to return well before that, after details of his appeal was confirmed by the CAS in a statement posted on their website.

The statement confirmed "the Court of Arbitration for Sport has registered two appeals filed by the Jamaican athletes Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson against the decisions of the Jamaica Anti-doping Disciplinary Panel Tribunal of April 8 and 10, 2014 to suspend them for a period of 18 months, starting on 21 June 2013".

It added "the athletes put forward that the offence committed is minor and request that the suspensions be reduced to three months".

"The CAS has initiated an arbitration procedure in each case and the parties have been invited to file written submissions in accordance with the code of sports-related arbitration."

Sherone Simpson is also appealing to reduce her ban from 18 months to three months ©Getty ImagesSherone Simpson is also appealing to reduce her ban from 18 months to three months ©Getty Images





Like Powell, Athens 2004 4x100m relay gold medallist Simpson is also appealing to reduce her ban after she tested positive for the same substance.

Both athletes are blaming their positive tests on Canadian trainer Christopher Xuereb for providing supplements which contained traces of the product.

Xuereb has denied providing either Powell or Simpson any performance-enhancing drugs and claims to have purchased only major brand vitamins. 

Earlier this month, Jamaican 400m runner Dominique Blake's six-year ban for a second doping offence was cut to four-and-a-half years following a successful appeal to CAS, who ruled there were "mitigating factors" deeming the initial punishment "too severe".

American sprinter Tyson Gay, one of Powell's foremost rivals who remains the second fastest 100m runner in history behind Usain Bolt, was handed a one-year ban by the United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) earlier this month rather than a lengthier two year ban, but was rewarded for cooperating and assisting the investigation.

This is likely to have contributed to Powell's sense of injustice because Gay tested positive for seemingly more serious anabolic steroids, rather than stimulants.