International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Sebastian Coe has said that the IAAF will not shirk from its duty to ban Kenya from the Rio Olympics if the country is declared non-compliant by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), British media reports said yesterday.
Athletics powerhouse Kenya, which topped the medals table at last year’s world championships in Beijing, has had more than 40 athletes banned for doping in the past three years.
A regional anti-doping official last week said that Kenya faced a race against time to prove to WADA it was dealing with the issue or it could join Russia in being declared non-compliant.
Photo: Reuters
According to reports in two British newspapers, Coe has told BT Sport TV that the IAAF would take any action necessary to restore the reputation of the sport.
“We know that a disproportionate amount of reputational damage is caused by a relatively few countries and we have to be very much more proactive,” Coe was quoted as saying in an interview that was scheduled for broadcast yesterday.
“Yes, if it means pulling them out of world championships or Olympic Games then we will have to do that,” he said. “I know the World Anti-Doping Agency has looked very closely at the Kenyan National Anti-Doping Agency. We, of course, monitor that through the IAAF so that work is ongoing.”
The African nation’s case was not helped when Athletics Kenya chief executive Isaac Mwangi this week was asked to step aside for 21 days pending an investigation into allegations he sought bribes to reduce the doping bans of two athletes.
Mwangi has described the allegations as a “fabrication.”
Russia was banned from world athletics in November last year following allegations of widespread and state-sponsored doping in a report by WADA.
Athletics are the highlight of the second half of the Olympic program and the absence of two powerhouses of the sport would be a major blow to this year’s Rio Games.
Coe said 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.
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