Smells like a witch-hunt

The President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Lamine Diack, may have been on to something when he said that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appears set on picking out Jamaica and Kenya for special treatment in its fight against drug cheats.
In other words, it appears to be a witch-hunt.
He made mention of the recent audit WADA conducted in Jamaica and asked what did they find?
I am sure that if there was anything more adverse than we already know, it would be making international headlines.
It makes you wonder if the battle has now become more of an ideological and political one rather than a full-scale war against all comers.
My reason for saying this is that countries like Russia and Turkey have real drugs issues in sport but they aren’t being targeted and pressured like Third World countries.
Historically, bigger industralized countries like to wield the big stick on smaller nations. We must always toe the line or be prepared to face the consequences.
On the other hand, they have a perennial difficulty in bringing their own in line. The mote in their eyes clouds their judgement in respect of their own people.  
I mean, just recently Lance Armstrong accused a former cycling boss of complicity in his illicit activities. 
How much more of that do we get in international sport where the big fish usually get away and the small ones are caught in the net?
Seriously, for WADA to gain or maintain credibility, it must make a greater attempt not to show prejudice as it appears to be doing against Jamaica and Kenya at the moment. 
We shouldn’t forget that at the height of the Ben Johnson scandal he was made a scapegoat but not long after we heard how the United States swept similar cases under the carpet.
The great Carl Lewis was among those testing positive for banned stimulants but he wasn’t exposed or banned at the time.
Even then Lewis was pointing fingers at other athletes he suspected were on drugs because of their acute improvement in a short space of time.
I’m just saying that some rules don’t seem to apply to all and that’s the hypocrisy that brings the credibility of organizations like WADA into question. 
It could be, too, that that’s the reason why some smaller nations are defiant in their stance about being scrutinized more than others.
The question is whether Jamaica, for instance, would have so many questions to answer if it weren’t that successful at major events, particularly in the sprints.
I don’t think they would be, but has anybody heard officially what drug Tyson Gay took when he tested positive in May?
But we know what drug Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson allegedly ingested when they were caught.
And when last have we heard anything at all about the Gay case?
We must not take these developments lightly when there appears to be inconsistencies in the modus operandi of the drugs in sports police.
We must concede, though, that Jamaica has drawn attention to its own dilemma.
Two former senior officials of their anti-doping commission openly criticized the country’s testing methods. Both statements were interpreted as an indictment of their system.
It was only after Renee Ann Shirley claimed that the Jamaican authorities conducted only one out-of-competition test prior to the London Olympics that WADA hastily decided to do the audit on Jamaica’s programme.
The country’s most senior drug tester, Dr Paul Wright, said recent positive tests of six athletes may only be the tip of the iceberg.
This home-grown observation compounded the growing international  pressure on the Jamaicans to put their house in order.
And they should if there are weaknesses in their system but they shouldn’t be persecuted or singled out when they are others who are just as guilty or even worse.
The recent resignation of the JADCO board may just have strengthened WADA’s case for a more transparent and accountable drug testing programme in Jamaica.
• Andi Thornhill is an experienced and award-winning journalist.