By Barrie Alpha

Following his relentless efforts in sensitising athletes on the ban of tramadol by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Co-founder of the ‘Say No TO Drugs’ campaign, Abu Bakar Sillah popularly known as Capay Ivorian Sillah has given a thumbs-up to Arnold Nakata Dennis Jackson, the Sierra Leone Under-20 team masseur.

Nakata was on live on epic sports, sensitising athletes to avoid taking tramadol as it’s a banned substance, explaining the negative effect it will caused in the athletes’ careers.

However, speaking to Night Watch Sports from England via phone, the ‘Say No TO Drugs’ campaign co-founder said it’s really good for the athletes in Sierra Leone to be aware that the painkiller tramadol has been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of banned substances on 1st January, 2024, while cannabis is to remain prohibited.

“Fantastic” and “really good” — this is how the former Freetown United FC players described the effort of the National U-20 team masseur when he engaged in sensitising the athletes.

‘I really appreciate the Sierra Leone Under-20 team masseur, Nakata’s efforts to make sure that our athletes are aware that tramadol has been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of banned substances because most of the young people in that country are engage in taking tramadol and the athletes are no exception,’ he said.

The painkiller tramadol was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of banned substances on 1st January, 2024, while cannabis is to remain prohibited.

WADA had been pressured to review the status of cannabis largely in response to American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson missing the Tokyo 2020 Olympics because of a positive test for the recreational drug.

Following an extensive review, cannabis will remain on the prohibited list, the 2023 version of which has been approved. These latest judgement were made at WADA’s second Executive Committee meeting last year, held in Sydney and open to remote participation.

The Executive Committee endorsed the recommendation by the List Expert Advisory Group to prohibit the opioid tramadol in competition.

The delay in implementation was ‘to provide an additional year for broad communication and education of athletes, their entourage and medical personnel so that there is a better understanding of the practical implementation of tramadol prohibition in competition’, WADA said.

Tramadol abuse, including dose-dependent risks of physical dependence, opiate addiction and overdoses in the general population, is of concern. It is a controlled drug in many countries for these reasons.

Meanwhile, the Say No To Drugs co-founder disclosed that he and his partner, Mamadu Bobor Barrie, the Chairman, Old Edwardians FC, will intensify the campaign by the taking the message to more communities and football fields especially in the east end of Freetown.