Female Kenyan boxer accuses Anti-Doping Agency of tricking her to get her urine

Kenyan boxer Lorna Kusa [Courtesy]

A female Kenyan boxer has accused Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) of tricking her to get her urine sample. Lorna Kusa, a boxer claims she was tricked into submitting her urine sample on the streets by ADAK officials, a process she claims was malicious.

Lorna told The Nairobian that she received a call from a stranger.

“I received a call from a strange woman who went on to identify herself as Caroline. She claimed she was my cousin from Bunyore and that she wanted to meet me in town. I was hesitant, but she insisted. She claimed she wanted to congratulate me for being a good boxer,” Lorna told The Nairobian.

She added: “Being cautious and because I had other business to accomplish, I moved towards Odeon. She kept calling me. I finally decided to meet her.”

Lorna would later realise that she had been duped.

“I was suddenly surrounded by men flashing their job cards. They introduced themselves as ADAK officials and directed me to get tested at their offices,” the light welterweight ace explained. She protested to no avail.

Lorna would later realise that she had been duped [Courtesy]

“My coach was not pleased as it was not the right procedure.

According to the World Anti-Doping Code and the International Standard for Testing and Investigation, which ADAK subscribes to, the process of testing includes athlete selection, athlete notification, sample collection, sample analysis and result management.

Notification entails being told that you’ve been selected for tests upon being shown proof that you’re dealing with doping agency officials, or to be precise,  a Doping Control Officer (DCO). But all these, according to Lorna, never happened.

When contacted to comment on the issue, Sarah Shibutse, ADAK’s Director Standards and Compliance, who is in charge of anti-doping testing said: “We only call athletes who are in a registered testing pool if we don’t get them at the venues and during times they recorded with us. I don’t think it’s an ADAK official who called the athlete because we don’t do that,” she told The Nairobian.