Kenya at risk of missing Olympics, after non-compliant of doping rules
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Kenya has been declared in breach of global anti-doping rules, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Compliance Review Committee announced.
The decision was unanimous and puts the East African country at risk of missing the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. WADA is expected to deem the country non-compliant of its anti-doping code.
Last month, Kenya passed legislation that created a new national anti-doping agency, as President Uhuru Kenyatta signed off on the new law. Kenya’s parliament had missed two previous deadlines on passing the bill. The country thought that would be enough to satisfy the global anti-doping agency.
In November, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), track and field’s governing body, banned Russia’s track and field athletes from international competition after a report by WADA uncovered evidence of systemic and state-sponsored doping. The IAAF will meet in Vienna on June 17 to determine Russia’s fate for the 2016 Olympics.
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Kenya, known as a distance running powerhouse, won 11 medals at the 2012 Olympics in London. Last summer, it topped the medal table at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing with seven gold medals.
More than 40 Kenyan athletes have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in the last four years.
WADA is also looking into allegations of Russian doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The 2016 Olympics open on Aug. 5.
