Anti-doping row in Jamaica costing me money, says Usain Bolt
Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt says controversy over Jamaica's anti-doping programme is scaring off potential sponsors and costing him money.
"There is a lot going on with this drug thing that I really feel they need to be clear [about] and clarify because now it is causing problems for me when it comes to making money in my sport," he said in Monaco, where the sport's governing body the IAAF crowned him World Athlete of the Year.
Fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the women's award.
World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) officials went to Jamaica in October to look at the country's anti-doping efforts after weeks of criticism following positive tests from several high- profile athletes.
Wada president John Fahey suggested the Caribbean nation could face severe penalties if the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (Jadco) was declared non-compliant. Only Wada code-compliant sports can participate in the Olympics.
Jamaica's minister with responsibility for sports, Natalie Neita-Headley, said in October that Wada had given no indication it was non-compliant.
However, Bolt - who has never failed a drugs test - said the fallout from the controversy was affecting him. "It is really costing me money now. I am not too happy with that," he said. "Track and field is my job."
His manager Ricky Simms said rumours suggesting Bolt might not be at the next Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 had upset the sprinter and put off a potential sponsor.
"What he was disturbed about was … the misinformation that was out there," Simms said. "It's a potential new sponsorship. They asked the question, 'Are you going to be in the Olympics?' They don't want to sponsor him when he is not in the Olympics."
Three Jamaicans have failed drug tests. They were all left out of the team for the August world championships.
