On their website Wada report Sakari (400m) and Koki (400m/hurdles) allegedly told Associated Press that AK Chief Executive Officer Isaac Mwangi apparently asked for the bribes in order to have their suspensions shortened after they were found to have violated IAAF Anti-Doping laws during the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing China.
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Kenya is facing the threat of an Olympic ban after moving to the brink of being put on probation by the World Anti-Doping Agency over its failure to get to grips with its drugs problem.
A WADA statement read in part: “WADA had asked a series of questions to the Kenyan authorities, and stressed that we needed the Kenyan Government to expedite, and show commitment to, the National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO)’s development”.
UKAD will manage the testing of Russian athletes, with the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) now serving a suspension for breaches of WADA’s strict code. “We have not yet received the details nor the assurances we need from Kenya; and, therefore, this is now a matter for our independent compliance process”.
Around 40 Kenyan runners have failed doping tests since the failures of the country’s anti-doping program were highlighted in 2012.
Also, three other senior officials, Athletics Kenya President Isaiah Kiplagat, vice president David Okeyo, and former AK treasurer Joseph Kinyua, were suspended for 180 days last November by global body the IAAF pending an investigation.
For several months, Wada has been trying to persuade Kenya to set up an effective national agency so more drug tests can be conducted but progress has been slow.
Britain’s anti-doping body UKAD will take charge of testing Russian athletes while the local agency is suspended for non-compliance following allegations of widespread doping in the country.
“We thought it was unfair for an official to ask for money from us, especially when we were in such a kind of a desperate situation after we had been kept in suspense for a long time before the four-year suspension was imposed on us”, Koki said.
All the officials deny wrongdoing.
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Mwangi called the allegiation “just a joke” and the athletes said they never filed a criminal complaint because they lacked proof, so take the accusations with a grain of salt.
