Caribbean Sports Round Up...

Published Sunday, October 7th, 2007

IAAF president Lamine Diack believes disgraced American sprinter Marion Jones will be remembered as "one of the biggest frauds in sporting history". The American admitted to taking steroids ahead of the Sydney Olympics where she won five medals, three of them gold.   The IAAF President said that many people believed in her achievements and this confession has left a very bitter taste, he said its a tragedy and he is glad that she is aware of the damage that her actions have caused.   Jones, who has admitted lying to federal investigators about her use of the steroid THG in 2003, is facing a six-month prison sentence and could be stripped of the five gongs she won at the 2000 Games.  Diack is deeply disappointed that an athlete with Marion Jones' immense natural ability gave in to the corrupt, 'get-rich-quick' spin of a dope dealer like Victor Conte.  In 2003 Jones denied receiving any banned substances from Conte, head of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), a commercial company based in San Francisco.  Diack said that if Marion Jones had trusted to her own natural gifts and allied them to self-sacrifice and hard work that she could have been an honest champion at the Sydney Games.  Now, instead, she will be remembered as one of the biggest frauds in sporting history.

The name Junior Francis may not readily ring a bell, but in football circles, he is certainly making a name for himself both as an administrator and now coach. As a result, he has been elevated to the position of coach of Jamaica's national Under-17 female team. Francis, 46, has also been given the responsibility of guiding the national Under-15 team while serving as the assistant coach of the Senior women's team as they bid for Olympic glory.  Francis, a former Kingston College Manning Cup player between 1975-78, has been instrumental in pushing women's football at the school, collegiate, club and now national level.  Francis, who is an engineer at the National Water Commission, said a lack of funding is crippling the growth of women's football.  "Because of the lack of funding at the youth level, there is not much focus and with that in mind, I would like to reach out to Corporate Jamaica for sponsorship from companies that like youth development. "They are the future of any country and if we can get them focused, it will decrease the idle mind that tends to lead to violence. There is not much backative and crowd support, and it's very difficult to run the female program, as is the case with the male," said Francis.