Asafa Powell banned for 18 months

Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell has been banned for 18 months by a Jamiacan anti-doping disciplinary panel after testing positive for the stimulant oxilophrine at last year's national championships.

The ban has been backdated to June 21 2013 - the day he provided the sample. His ban will end on Dec 20.

The chairman of the three-member disciplinary panel, Lennox Gayle, said: "The panel arrived at a unanimous decision, and it is a decision that in all the circumstances Mr. Powell was found to be negligent and that he was at fault, especially in light of the fact he (is) an elite athlete.

"It is our decision that the period of ineligibility will be 18 months commencing from the date of the sample collection ... the period will expire on the 20th of December 2014."

In reaction to the decision the former 100-metre world record holder said he would lodge an appeal against the “unfair and unjust” decision.

He also insisted that has never knowingly taken any banned substances, and that the stimulant in question is only banned during competition while experts declared that it has no performance enhancing effects.

"Sanctions for a stimulant and this kind of infraction usually range from public warnings to a ban of three months, six months in the most extreme cases; I was and am still more than prepared to accept a sanction that is in line with the offence. Instead, nine months later, what has been handed down is clearly not based on the offence nor the facts surrounding it.

Powell's sanction comes two days after his former training partner Sherone Simpson received an 18-month suspension from the same panel for the same substance.

Another Jamaican, Olympic discus thrower Allison Randall was also handed a two-year ban for using the prohibited diuretic hydrochlorothiazide on Tuesday.