IAAF President Sebastian Coe "is ready to ban Kenya's track and field team from the Olympics if the country's athletics federation is declared non-compliant" with the World Anti-Doping Agency code, according to the BBC.
Kenya "missed a deadline last week" to prove to WADA it was tackling cheating. Coe said,
"We have to be much more proactive."
Coe said that "he would impose serious sanctions on any nation guilty of attempting to cover up drug-taking."
Kenya is to be placed on a "watch-list" of nations at risk of breaching WADA's code and could be banned from int'l competition if non-compliant, as happened with Russia's athletes. He said,
"We know that a disproportionate amount of reputational damage is caused by a relatively few countries. If it means pulling them out of World Championships or Olympic Games then we will have to do that" (BBC, 2/18). The AP's Rob Harris wrote Kenya's problems with WADA "relate to delays in setting up and funding a new national anti-doping body, and delays in passing legislation that would make doping a crime -- both promises made to WADA as far back as four years ago."
The Kenyan anti-doping agency announced Thursday that it has received nearly $3M from the government "to buy anti-doping equipment, including testing kits for all the country's remote training camps."
Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya CEO Kiplimo Rugut said, "We have fully cooperated with WADA, although we recognize there has been delays in the processes, hence the lapse of one of the deadlines that had been put in place." Kenyan track and anti-doping authorities said Thursday that "they were making progress."
Athletics Kenya President
Jackson Tuwei said, "It does not worry me now that we may face an Olympic ban, since ADAK is working out a policy bill which will be taken to parliament to be made into law" (AP, 2/18). REUTERS' Nick Mulvenney wrote Russia "was banned from world athletics in November following allegations of widespread and state-sponsored doping."
Coe said that "a decision on Russia's return would depend on their WADA compliance and would not be rushed because of pressure from governments or the Olympic movement."
The former Olympic champion middle distance runner also said that "restoring trust in the sport after the scandals of the last year was a long-term project." He said,
"We can make the changes but the journey is going to be ultimately when people, and particularly when clean athletes, feel ... they've got anti-doping systems that they can trust in. Parents, who in large parts nudge their kids towards certain sports, they've got to feel that we're not a sport full of junkies" (REUTERS, 2/18).
ACTION REQUIRED: REUTERS' Neville Dalton wrote Kenya Olympic Committee Chair Kip Keino "urged the country's government to act urgently to stave off the threat of an Olympic ban." Keino, a former Olympic Gold Medalist, said that "the nation's athletes need the government to create the legislative framework to enable Kenyan sport to clean up its act." He said,
"It is (for) the government to act and see what they can do regarding this matter. This is the IAAF Ethics Commission work. They reckon we are too slow. We will do our best. We will put our heads together with the government and (anti-doping agency) ADAK and AK (Athletics Kenya). But government must do the donkey work. (It) must take the draft bill to cabinet and be enacted. We are too slow" (REUTERS, 2/18).
