Brownlee on flunked drug test: No comment
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Clear criteria needed for its use
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Marcos acknowledged the Philippines still has significant ground to cover relative to its regional and global peers.
Justin Brownlee refused to issue any statement after testing positive for a banned substance for the second time.
Together with Barangay Ginebra teammates Scottie Thompson and RJ Abarrientos, Brownlee was in attendance during a contract-signing event with ArenaPlus on Thursday at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City.
But the 36-year-old naturalized player was tightlipped when the media asked him to comment on the result of his random drug test that puts his stint in the FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in August in serious jeopardy.
“No comment,” the well-loved import said, politely declining requests to clear his name on the issue that rocked Philippine basketball early this week.
No less than the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) confirmed that it received notice of “adverse analytical finding” in Brownlee’s random test following his stint with Gilas Pilipinas in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup last February.
The federation refused to issue further information, but stressed that Brownlee’s legal team in the United States is already handling the matter.
Reports have it that what was found in Brownlee’s system was a “recreational drug” that is linked to the use of marijuana.
It was Brownlee’s second flunked drug test. He also tested positive for Carboxy-THC, a compound linked to cannabis, shortly after leading Gilas Pilipinas to the gold medal in the Asian Games in China back in 2023.
Brownlee served a three-month suspension that made him available for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia last year and the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers early this year.
The SBP has yet to announce Brownlee’s possible sanction or if they are still appealing his case to the International Basketball Federation and World Anti-Doping Agency.
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), on the other hand, is also in the dark.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said they are still waiting for a clear directive from the SBP before tackling Brownlee’s sanction.
We are still waiting for the SBP’s next move,” Marcial said in a telephone interview with DAILY TRIBUNE early this week.
“We can’t do anything unless they issue a directive.”
