Anti-doping body calls for severe penalties on cheats

Athletics Integrity unit's Thomas Capdevielle with Anti Doping Agency of kenya's chair Japhter Rugut and Sports CS Amina Mohammed [Courtesy]

After an in-depth analysis on tests on-road racers, Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) found out that 76 per cent of podium finishers do not undergo out-of-competition testing.

About 60 per cent of them are Kenyans and this necessitated the partnership between the Anti-doping Agency of Kenya (Adak) and Athletics Kenya (AK). The federation will help popularize out-of-competition testing among road racers in a bid to help the country move out of category A and protect her integrity. 

According to AIU, category A are countries with the highest tendencies of doping. Other counties ranked in A include Ukraine, Eritrea, Venezuela and Ethiopia.

“In 2018, AIU conducted extensive analysis of the risk to road running and found 76 per cent of the IAAF Golden label road races were not part of any out-of-competition anti-doping programme, ” said Thomas Capdevielle,  AIU head of programme.

Capdevielle said: “Given the uniqueness of the road running industry where a pool of talented runners competing at the highest level and earning a good living from it runs deeper than any discipline in athletics.”

AIU intends to use between US$ 2.6 million (Sh260m) and US$ 3.2m (Sh320million) in their Road Running Integrity Programme next year.

There are 262 athletes registered by World Athletics Road Running and Capdevielle said between 40 and 60 athletes will be included in the testing Pool in 2020. 

Previous testing pool included just 70 runners and by February next year, World Athletics will have about 300 to 320 runners.

Capdevielle said criminalising doping will take the battle against doping in athletics a notch higher. 

“World Athletics don’t want to interfere with Kenyan authority but we want more investigations to punish those involved in doping which include coaches, doctors and pharmacists who are involved,” said Capdevielle.

Sports CS Amina Mohammed said a team has been constituted to amend the anti-doping laws. “The conversation is in and we want to ensure that the whole entourage takes responsibility. The government through Adak is committed to eradicating doping in the country,” she said.

Amina said dopers will not be allowed to represent the country.

World 800m David Rudisha, who was present at the press conference, said: “Sports is an industry and I am happy Athletics Kenya and their partners AIU have worked hard for the welfare of the athletes.”

Rudisha added: “These cheats have made it to the podium at the expense of clean athletes. But I am happy it will end with such efforts. “

Japhter Rugut, the Adak CEO, said the establishment of the agency in 2016 have seen 3,000 tests and held 136 workshops.

AK President Jackson Tuwei said the conference in Eldoret will dwell on anti-doping, legal matters, investment, taxation, ethics and values and athletes’ media relation. 

Meanwhile the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has shifted a meeting that will decide whether to impose new sanctions on Russia, including a possible Olympic ban, from Paris to the Swiss city of Lausanne due to anticipated strikes in France.

“WADA has taken the decision to relocate (the meeting) to Lausanne due to likely disruptions and uncertainty caused by imminent general strike action in Paris,” WADA said in a statement on Monday.

WADA’s executive committee is due to meet on Dec. 9 to consider a recommendation from the body’s independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC) that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) be ruled non-compliant. The recommendation followed an investigation that found data handed over from a Moscow laboratory had been manipulated and was neither complete nor fully authentic. The CRC recommended that Russia receive a four-year Olympic ban, which would keep it out of Olympic Games.