{"id":189181,"date":"2016-02-12T08:53:09","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T08:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=189181"},"modified":"2016-02-12T08:53:09","modified_gmt":"2016-02-12T08:53:09","slug":"athletics-doping-kenya-misses-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/02\/athletics-doping-kenya-misses-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"Athletics doping: Kenya misses deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"
Kenya has missed a deadline to prove to the World Anti-Doping Agency it is tackling cheating in athletics.<\/p>\n
It comes after a spate of positive drugs tests among the country’s athletes and fresh allegations of corruption.<\/p>\n
Kenya has not been able to provide the assurances that the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) is seeking and will be placed on a ‘watch-list’ of nations at risk of breaching the agency’s code.<\/p>\n
The East African country, whose athletes are dominant in distance running, will be given two months to bring in new legislation and funding, or automatically be declared non-compliant with Wada.<\/p>\n
That could mean a possible ban from the Olympics, which take place later this year in Brazil, and other major events.<\/p>\n
A Wada statement said while “some progress has been made” with the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya, there is “still a lot of work required”.<\/p>\n
It said that, following a series of questions to Kenyan authorities, it had not received the assurances it needed.<\/p>\n
“This is now a matter for our independent compliance process,” it said.<\/p>\n
How bad is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n Kenya topped the medal table at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing with seven gold medals.<\/p>\n But the country has become mired in doping and bribery allegations.<\/p>\n Since 2011, more than 40 of its athletes have failed drugs tests:<\/p>\n \uf0a7As of January 2016, 18 Kenyan athletes were suspended for doping;<\/p>\n \uf0a7Those 18 athletes are serving bans totalling 55 years;<\/p>\n \uf0a7The best known is Rita Jeptoo, who has won the Boston and Chicago marathons;<\/p>\n \uf0a7Lilian Moraa Mariita was given the longest ban – eight years for taking steroids.<\/p>\n Three senior officials at governing body Kenya Athletics have also been suspended following accusations they were involved in corruption linked to Doha’s successful bid for the 2019 World Championships.<\/p>\n Both officials, and the Qatar campaign team, deny any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n The Kenyan government told the BBC it was taking the threat of doping “very seriously” and said its newly established national anti-doping organisation would soon be operational.<\/p>\n Why has Wada take action now?<\/strong><\/p>\n For several months, Wada has been trying to persuade Kenya to set up an effective national agency so more drug tests can be conducted, but progress has been slow.<\/p>\n Legislation has yet to be passed by the Kenyan parliament and proposed annual funding of 500m Kenyan shillings (\u00a33.5m) is still to be released.<\/p>\n A taskforce met with Kenyan officials in Nairobi last week and asked for certain assurances by Thursday.<\/p>\n But Kenya has now been referred to Wada’s compliance committee.<\/p>\n David Howman, Wada’s director general, said “a fully functional” anti-doping agency is “a vital step for a country of Kenya’s sporting stature” if it is to “effectively protect clean athletes”.<\/p>\n He said it must be established “at the earliest opportunity”. Kenya has missed a deadline to prove to the World Anti-Doping Agency it is tackling cheating in athletics. It comes after a spate of positive drugs tests among the country’s athletes and fresh allegations of corruption. Kenya has not been able to provide the assurances that the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) is seeking and will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[249,11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nBy: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"