GRAND CONSPIRACY? Ex-Olympic champs allege cover-up by federation on doping scandal

Marathoner Rita Jeptoo arrives at the Athletics Kenya offices in Nairobi for her case on doping case hearing on 15-01-2015.PHOTO/DENNIS OKEYO.

Two former Olympic champions have claimed there are attempts to cover up on the people behind the doping scandal that led to Rita Jeptoo’s two-year ban.

Wilfred Bungei, who won Olympic gold in 800m in 2008 in Beijing and John Ngugi, who won 5,000m title in Seoul in 1988, have accused Athletics Kenya (AK) of conspiring to let the real culprits off the hook, while punishing Jeptoo.

The two said at a press conference on Monday the two-year ban slapped last Friday on the three-time Boston and two-time Chicago marathon winner is not enough to expose the real faces behind the recent doping cases.

“Who was involved in the recent doping cases and have they been apprehended? If Jeptoo is guilty as we are told, was she acting alone? She was interviewed with her husband, manager and coach. Are they also culpable or not? Announcing the ban is okay but we need all the information on this and other cases,” they demanded.

“If Jeptoo tested positive for EPO then there must be someone behind it. Why is he or she not in jail? We want doping in sports to be criminalized and those responsible to bear the consequences,” Bungei said.

“This is an injectable drug that is not manufactured in Kenya. How did it come to this country? Who administers it? AK has mechanisms to investigate those behind this practice and we know they did.

 Recalling his own doping scandal in 1993 when he refused to take an out-of-competition drug test that saw him initially banned for four years before it was reduced after he contested the ruling; Ngugi claimed AK was equally culpable in the Jeptoo saga.

Ngugi says he spent USD57,000 of his own money in the case and ended up broke.

Professional Athletes Association of Kenya (PAAK) national organising secretary, Julius Ndegwa, claimed the federation had kept reports of positive drug busts in the country under lock and key for ulterior motives.

“We are asking AK to make public all reports of positive drug tests since 2009. The cases have recently increased to alarming levels and we are worried there is a deliberate attempt to use doping as a tool to fight those runners who do not toe the AK line.

AK announced Jeptoo’s ban on Friday but did not disclose further details pertaining to the case that rocked the distance running fraternity to its core.

“After consultation with IAAF, she has been banned for two years. We shall release further details when the report detailing the sanction following the review of her case in mid January is complete.

AK Chief Executive Officer, Isaac Mwangi, said they cannot give details from their investigations at this moment.

“We have a report but we are following due process. There is strict confidentiality in doping cases and, more so, we must follow the leads given during investigations to its logical conclusion,” he said.

“In cases, drugs like EPO are not illegal. They are prescribed to patients who buy them over the counter, for instance, to p[atients with low haemoglobin levels. It boosts red cells in the blood. It is prescribed to cancer patients. So we are being very careful here, and trying to get documentation to those some suspects,” he said.

“We cannot make haphazard report based on claims and counter-claims,” he said.

Turning to managers and coaches whose athletes fail dope test, which AK promised to deregister, Mwangi said they cannot convict people without hard evidence.

“We are also following IAAF competition rules, which say athletes are responsible for what goes in their own bodies,” he said.

Kenya has come under sharp focus globally following recent claims of widespread doping.