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Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell handed 18-month doping ban by disciplinary panel in Kingston, Jamaica on Thursday

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A Jamaican disciplinary panel banned former 100 metre world record holder Asafa Powell from athletics for 18 months on Thursday, after he tested positive for a banned stimulant last June.

A three-member panel of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission said its decision was unanimous.

Powell's ban begins from the date of his sample collection on the 21st of June last year during national trials for the World Championships.

He will be eligible to return to competition on the 20th of December 2014.

The 31-year-old tested positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrone at Jamaica's national trials.

He has been suspended from competition since his doping case was disclosed in July 2013.