Kenya's
Sports Minister Hassan Wario. © Thomas Mukoya / Reuters
|
The International Olympic
Committee (IOC) will decide whether to ban Kenya from the 2016 Rio Olympic
Games after the African country was deemed non-compliant by the World
Anti-Doping Authority (WADA).
RT
News report continues:
WADA’s
compliance review committee arrived at the decision in Montreal on Thursday,
after Kenya missed two deadlines to demonstrate that it was addressing serious
concerns of doping, despite passing legislation last month to establish a
national anti-doping agency.
President
Uhuru Kenyatta personally pushed the new law through and it was widely assumed
it would be enough to satisfy WADA.
WADA
announced the decision via Twitter:
Foundation Board
Declares Kenyan National Anti-Doping Organization Non-Compliant: https://t.co/TOhwy655fB
— WADA
(@wada_ama) May
13, 2016
As in all cases of
non-compliance, WADA now hands the decision over to its stakeholders, the IOC
and UNESCO for consideration and action.
— WADA
(@wada_ama) May
13, 2016
The
recommendation needs to be approved by the higher WADA board, but it would
ultimately come down to the IOC on whether Kenya, which collected 11 medals at
the last London Olympics in 2012, would be banned from Rio 2016.
The
move will mean athletes from the notorious athletics powerhouse could be at
risk of missing the Olympics, with two-time world cross-country world champion
Emily Chebet among the Kenyan athletes to have been banned for doping offenses.
As of January 2016, 18 Kenyan athletes were serving bans totalling 55 years, among them distance running stars Rita Jeptoo and Lilian Moraa Mariita, serving the longest ban of eight years for taking steroids.
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