MONACO - Asafa Powell missed out on a major pay day due to Olympic champion Justin Gatlin's failed doping test, but the biggest loser could be the sport in general, said the Jamaican sprinter's manager.

Asafa Powell of Jamaica reacts after winning the 100 metres event at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart on September 9, 2006. [Reuters]

Sprinter Justin Gatlin, 100-meter Olympic Gold Medalist, World Champion and co-world record-holder in the 100 meters attends a news conference in New York in this June 1, 2006 file photo. Gatlin agreed on August 22, 2006 to an eight-year ban from athletics for a second doping offence, according to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. [Reuters]

The world's top two sprinters never met in 2006, with Gatlin admitting in July he had tested positive for the male sex hormone testosterone in April.

"Financially we took a big blow by not having that match-up race (with Gatlin)," Paul Doyle told Reuters after the 23-year-old Powell was named IAAF male athlete of the year.

"That was a race that could have catapulted the sport leading into these (2008) Olympics."

Even before Gatlin learned of his failed test, a proposed meeting in Gateshead, England in June fell apart when Gatlin pulled out.

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Powell went on to tie his 100 metres world record of 9.77 seconds at Gateshead and equalled it again in Zurich in a million-dollar season in which the Jamaican ran under 10 seconds a record 12 times.

"Overall, athletes are not going to be earning as much because sponsors are going to be staying away," Doyle added.

"Financially I think the whole sport was affected. In the long run, missing out on just that big pay day, it really damaged the sport in general."

NO EXCUSES

Unless an arbitration panel clears Gatlin next year, he could face a ban of up to eight years. The sprinter has denied having any knowledge of how he tested positive.

Powell, meanwhile, will head into Osaka's world championships as the No. 1 sprinter even though he has never won a world or Olympic medal.

"The way he has established himself this year, meet directors can no longer give the excuse: 'Well, he has no medal,'" Doyle said. "He is head and shoulders No. 1 in the world."

A tentative 2007 schedule has Powell racing in Europe about five times before the world championships, and more often afterward.

His first races will likely be relay events in the United States, then a season-opener in Jamaica in May. He probably would not run in Europe before July, Doyle said.

The emphasis clearly will be on the world championships.

"This year there was no world championships or Olympics," Powell told reporters at a news conference.

"Next year I can go do the same thing with the world championships."