Kenya Urges World Athletics Not To Ban Nation
Kenya’s government is urging World Athletics not to ban the East African country from the sport, promising to step up its fight against the use of banned substances after a series of its athletes were suspended for doping.
Renowned for its middle and long-distance runners, Kenya has won numerous gold medals at Olympics and World Championships and clocked up record times. The nation is ranked third in the athletics medal haul at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Kenya has faced accusations of widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs for years, but the athletics powerhouse has recently been buffeted by an increasing number of its runners testing positive. A ban would leave its athletes unable to compete globally, while risking Kenya’s absence at the 2024 Olympic games in Paris.
“We will not allow unethical individuals to ruin Kenya’s reputation through doping,” Kenya’s Minister For Sports, Ababu Namwamba, said on Twitter on Friday.
“We must defeat doping and its perpetrators.”
“We will not allow unethical individuals to ruin Kenya’s REPUTATION through #DOPING.” ~CS @AbabuNamwamba #SayNoToDoping#RunClean pic.twitter.com/kESVaBcIKp
— Ministry Of Youth Affairs, Sports & The Arts (@moscakenya) November 25, 2022
The government has told the governing body that it has committed an annual amount of $5 million over the next five years for the fight against doping. It is also taking “firm measures” and had a commitment of “zero tolerance” towards doping, Namwamba added.
This week Kenya’s government wrote to World Athletics to try and ward off a potential ban. A spokesperson for World Athletics confirmed. The governing body’s decision-making council is reportedly scheduled to meet in Rome next week, where Kenya is likely to be discussed.
Fifty-five (55) Kenyan athletes are currently banned and eight provisionally suspended, according to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), an independent body formed by World Athletics to combat doping in the sport.
Kenya is a ‘Category A’ country under World Athletics’ Anti-Doping Rules, which means its athletes must undergo at least three no-notice, out-of-competition urine and blood tests before major events. There are currently seven ‘Category A’ countries including Belarus, Ethiopia and Ukraine.
The AIU said in an email it had received a Kenyan government statement but had no response. Among the Kenyans caught using banned substances are 2021 Boston Marathon winner Diana Kipyokei and compatriot Betty Wilson Lempus, who were provisionally suspended last month for using a banned substance.
In April, Kenya’s 2014 Commonwealth Games and Africa 10,000 metre champion Joyce Chepkirui was banned for four years, dated back to 2019, for an Athlete Biological Passport discrepancy. Kenya in 2016 signed an anti-doping bill into law that was required to avoid a ban from the Rio Olympics.
Chidi Nwoke/Reuters.
