Agency: B samples positive for Powell, Simpson

Backup doping tests have come back positive for former 100-meter world record-holder Asafa Powell, teammate Sherone Simpson and three other island athletes.
The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission said the athletes' second samples were tested at a Montreal lab accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. It says all five athletes have been notified and the findings will be passed on to the Jamaican Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel so hearings can be scheduled.
Paul Doyle, the agent for Powell and Simpson, did not immediately respond to a Friday email seeking comment. The athletes and their agent have focused on a new physical trainer, Christopher Xuereb of Canada, saying supplements he provided caused the positive tests.

However, Xuereb has said he didn't give the sprinters performance-enhancing drugs and suggested he was a scapegoat. Powell and Simpson tested positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrone at Jamaica's national championships in June. Discus throwers Allison Randall and Travis Smikle, along with a junior athlete, also tested positive for prohibited substances at the same meet.
Powell was the last man to hold the 100-meter world record before teammate Usain Bolt broke it in 2008. He also helped the island win the 400-meter relay gold at the 2008 Olympics. Simpson won Olympic gold in the women's 400 relay in 2004 and silver in 2012, along with silver in the 100 in 2008.

The two Jamaican sprinting stars and trainer Xuereb were formally placed under criminal investigation in Italy following a hotel raid in July the northern resort town of Lignano Sabbidadora, where the Jamaicans have been training for years.

This week, an Italian prosecutor said their criminal doping investigation has been delayed because they have been unable to contact the athletes to ask whether they wish to observe the testing of substances sequestered during the police raid.
Meanwhile, a Jamaican disciplinary panel is deliberating a verdict after a four-day closed-door hearing on a positive doping test by another marquee sprinter, three-time Olympic gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown. The panel includes a former judge, a former senior military official and the head of the island's medical association.

One of Campbell-Brown's lawyers representing her at the hearing was P J Patterson, a former prime minister who led Jamaica from 1992-2006 and remains a highly influential figure on the island.