AK President Jack Tuwei dismisses 32-joyriders claim

3000m steeplechase Leonard Bett is congratulated by CS Sports Amina Mohamed during Athletics Annual Conference in Eldoret. On the right is AK President Jack Tuwei .06.12.2019. FILE PHOTOS BY PETER OCHIENG/STANDARD 

Athletics Kenya on Monday evening called out individuals claiming there was manipulation and delay tactics for Ferdinand Omanyala’s visa delay and allegations towards the travelling of 32-joyriders to come out with evidence of malice.

Through a statement released to the media, AK President Jack Tuwei rubbished the above claims saying they are false and understated.

“It is important to state that Omanyala went for visa Biometrics at the Embassy of the United Sates in Nairobi on July 7 alongside other athletes. The rest were issued with their visa a day later while Omanyalas passport was not released," explained Tuwei.

"When we enquired why, we were informed that he need to fill in an additional form referred to as Supplementary Questions for visa applicants to verify some facts.

"Neither the ministry or Athletic  Kenya could intervene because the required process by the embassy had to be undertaken individually. AK would like to recognise efforts of Sports CS Amina Mohammed in engaging the embassy in having the visa issued."

Tuwei further stated that the allegations that 32-government officials traveled to Oregon was fake and news to the federation.

"Allegations claiming that person other than athletes and support personnel travelled illegally to Oregon are false and unsubstantiated. AK hopes that this statement will set the record straight as a true account of status of Kenyan delegation in US," said Tuwei