Gleaner sources, however, said the real hearing will begin on Friday, again at an undisclosed location.

Monday's aborted hearing could mean the door to the World Championships was closed on the five athletes.

Hearing aborted

The hearing was aborted because the athletes, with their lawyers, objected to the make-up of the panel trying the case.

Chairman of Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission's disciplinary panel, Kent Gammon, on Monday told The Gleaner, "The disciplinary proceedings for the five athletes started ... . We started hearing submissions and we will continue to hear submissions on Wednesday (today)."

The Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association had Monday as its deadline to submit its final entries to the IAAF, 12 days ahead of the World Championships, set for August 15-23.

But under IAAF rules, the athletes could still take part at the World Championships as, if they are not suspended for the alleged violations, they cannot be barred.

If a public warning is given, which many predict could be the case, the athletes would not be dropped from the team. However, performances from a meet that come after a positive test are voided, which means the athletes, while still able to run the relays, could not take part in individual events.

Just in case the athletes are unable to make it, replacements have been added to the list submitted to the IAAF.