FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 17, 2007


FHSAA clears Lakeland's Rainey of wrongdoing

GAINESVILLE – The FHSAA office today notified Lakeland High School that an FHSAA investigation found no evidence that football player Chris Rainey violated the Association’s amateur rule.

Rainey, in the Dec. 5, 2006, edition of The Miami Herald, was quoted as saying that he was given cash and goods and implied that he received those gifts because he was a player on the Lakeland football team. Rainey recanted the statements he made to the reporter after the article was published.

FHSAA Bylaw 11.9.1 states that a student who accepts “remuneration, gift or donation for participation in a sport” becomes a professional and, therefore, is ineligible for interscholastic participation in that sport for one year.

The FHSAA began an investigation into the potential violation by Rainey on Dec. 6. The investigation, which was concluded on Dec. 21, consisted of interviews with 20 different individuals, including Rainey. The investigator conducted these interviews during three visits to the Lakeland High School campus and by phone over the two-week period. The investigation found no evidence that would lead the Association’s staff to conclude that a violation occurred.

“The original statement made by the student-athlete would cause anyone to suspect that he violated the amateur rule,” said FHSAA Commissioner John A. Stewart. “But once he recanted that statement we could no longer take action based on that statement alone. We had to investigate the potential violation, as we would any other allegation, to see if a violation, in fact, did occur.

“No one who our investigator spoke with would corroborate the student-athlete’s original statement. Neither would anyone refute his subsequent recantation. Without either, there is absolutely no evidence that the student-athlete violated the rule,” Stewart said. “Consequently, we have cleared the student-athlete of wrongdoing in this matter and consider the case closed.”

About the FHSAA
The Florida High School Athletic Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of more than 750 middle and senior public and private high schools. More information is available at www.fhsaa.org.

Contacts:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org