I NOTE with horror the length of time it took the investigating panel to come to a decision regarding the 'offending' athletes. This, of course, has also delayed the report from the local track authority to the IAAF, the promoters of the World Championships, which begins on Saturday.

This kind of delay smacks of an unspoken desire to find a way to include these athletes in our team, which would be a tragedy that would take years to dim, let alone erase.

Do they not realise that this is the time for us to ensure that Jamaica's legacy of high performances, so far untainted by substance abuse, is maintained by not even considering anyone who has been so implicated?

I am, etc.,

Trevor A. Bailey

talex_b@yahoo.com

Kingston 8