Kenyan MPs are "interrupting their Easter recess on Tuesday to pass urgent legislation" that will help one of the world’s athletics "powerhouses" overcome "myriad drug-taking and corruption scandals," according to John Aglionby of the FINANCIAL TIMES. To comply with WADA regulations, Kenya’s parliament has until April 5 to "pass a law enshrining the independence of the country’s newly-created anti-drugs body to catch athletes." Kenyan athletics has been "rocked by allegations that threaten to further tarnish a sport that is racing to rebuild its credibility" ahead of this year’s summer Olympics in Rio. While Kenyans will "probably be allowed to compete" even if WADA declares the country non-compliant and sponsors are "unlikely to desert them," it will be an "embarrassing blow to a nation that prides itself on its athletic prowess" and hosts many foreigners at its high-altitude training camps. Kip Keino, a double Olympic athletics champion and chair of the Kenyan Olympic Committee, said that the nation needed to do more to "clean the house." Keino: "We're at the corner, we haven’t yet turned it. Any athletes and officials that have been involved in drug-taking or corruption have to be stopped and replaced. We owe it to our nation’s youth to ensure all athletes who represent the country are clean" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 3/28).
