Five Kenyan athletes' bid to represent Turkiye blocked by World Athletics Panel

Kenya's Jepchirchir and Brigid Kosgei compete in the Women's marathon of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture on Aug. 7, 2021. [Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP]

World Athletics’ Nationality Review Panel has refused the applications of 11 athletes, including five Kenyans seeking to transfer their allegiance to Türkiye.

According to information on the World Athletics website, the Kenyan athletes include former World Marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei, Olympic Games silver medallist Ronald Kwemoi, World Road Running Championships bronze medallist Catherine Relin (Selin Can) Amanang’ole, 2025 Nairobi City Marathon half-marathon Nelvin Jepkemboi and Brian Kibor.

In its decisions, the panel said approval would “impinge upon and compromise” the imperatives underlying World Athletics eligibility rules and the transfer of allegiance regulations.

The other athletes blocked include four Jamaicans: Rajindra Campbell, Wayne Pinnock and Jaydon Hibbert and  Rojé Stona, Nigerian Favour Ofili and Russia's Sophia Yakushina.

The panel concluded that the applications formed part of a coordinated recruitment strategy led by the Türkiye government through a wholly-owned and financed government club, aimed at attracting overseas athletes with lucrative contracts and facilitating future allegiance transfers.

The panel also noted the objective included enabling the athletes to represent Türkiye at future international competitions, including the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Based on the common features across the applications, it assessed them together and determined that such an approach is inconsistent with the core principles of the regulations principles meant to safeguard the credibility of international competition and encourage Member Federations to invest in developing domestic talent.

As a result of the decisions, the athletes are not eligible to represent Türkiye in national representative competitions or other relevant international events.

The panel stated, however, that this does not prevent the athletes from competing in one-day meetings or road races in a personal or club capacity, or from living and training in Türkiye.