The Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) up to yesterday was still making arrangements to fly its five embattled athletes to join the team in Berlin for Saturday's start of the World Championships.

"We are trying to get clarification from the IAAF and, at the same time, trying to make arrangements for them to go," said D. Warren Blake, second vice-president of the JAAA.

According to a JADCO release on Monday, the five Jamaican athletes - Yohan Blake, Marvin Anderson, Allodin Fothergill, Lansford Spence and Sheri-Ann Brooks - "were found with 4-methyl-2 hexanamine in their urine samples, which was reported as an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF)".

Brooks was cleared last week by Jamaica's Anti-doping Disciplinary (JAD) panel "based on an irregularity with the testing of her 'B' sample", while the remaining four athletes received clearance on Monday. JAD failed to determine whether the banned substance was on the prohibited list.

However, JADCO, who carried out the tests at the National trials in June, said even though it was not on the list, it was considered by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as being of "similar chemical structure to tuaminoheptane", which is listed and therefore appealed the JAD verdict.

Really can't say

"They are entered as part of the team, so it is to get them in, in time for the competition," added Dr Blake. "We really can't say they are in or they out."

He promised that the JAAA should be in a better position today to say definitively if and when they will travel.

However, Dr Paul Wright, a physician and sport analyst, said there is no way any of these athletes can run in Berlin.

"Based on the rules of WADA, until the case is over and decided they cannot run ... they are provisionally suspended until a ruling has been made and this ruling is appealed by JADCO."

Dr Wright continued: "If you run them on a relay team and after the thing is over WADA or the IAAF has found that what we did in Jamaica was foolishness, every member of that team will face sanctions."

This is why, according to Dr Wright, the JAAA is seeking "clarification because it depends on how the IAAF is going to treat them ... and that is where the problems lies".

When contacted yesterday, the IAAF's communications manager, Yannis Nikolaou, said they have not yet received anything regarding the matter from the JAAA.

The IAAF Doping Review Board is scheduled to meet today and would have discussed the matter.

WADA outlined that when an AAF is reported on an 'A' sample, the athlete is provisionally suspended until after a hearing.

Meanwhile, Asafa Powell, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Melaine Walker, Shericka Williams and Brigitte Foster-Hylton joined the mandatory training camp in Nuremberg, Germany yesterday.