The scandal involving Kenyan athletics "has deepened after a fourth leading official was suspended for 'potential subversion' of anti-doping procedures," according to Martyn Ziegler of the LONDON TIMES.
Athletics CEO Isaac Mwangi "has been suspended for 180 days pending an investigation into allegations by two Kenyan runners" that he asked them for a bribe of about £15,000 to reduce their doping bans.
IAAF ethics board head
Michael Beloff said that Mwangi "had been provisionally suspended from any office or position 'in the interests of the integrity of the sport.'" Mwangi has insisted that the allegations by Joy Sakari, the 400m runner, and Francisca Koki Manunga, the hurdler, "were 'unsubstantiated' and 'have caused me a lot of mental anguish'" (LONDON TIMES, 2/23). The AP reported the World Anti-Doping Agency said that Kenya has until April 5 "to fall in line with global anti-doping rules." WADA said that draft regulations submitted recently by Kenya’s new anti-doping agency "do not comply with its code." Kenya will be assessed by WADA’s independent compliance review committee on April 5. That committee "will make a recommendation to WADA’s board at its meeting" on May 12. If Kenya "is declared noncompliant, its track and field athletes could be banned from competing at the Olympics" (AP, 2/23).
