Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian lab now living in Los Angeles, told the Times that he was given a spreadsheet of doping athletes by the Sports Ministry ahead of the games.
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Kenya’s Sports Minister Hassan Wario on Friday said his country has sought an urgent meeting with WADA over compliance issues.
“During the monitoring process. Kenyan athletes remain eligible to compete nationally and internationally”, read an IAAF statement.
Kenya is globally acclaimed for its middle and long distance running prowess and the country got a reprieve on Friday after the IAAF cleared its athletes for the Rio Olympics in August. That is considered unlikely.
In a statement to Omnisport, the International Olympic Committee added: “A NADO [national anti-doping organisation] can be non-compliant for a number of reasons, there are now a number of others in this position”.
“The UKAD board has discussed at length WADA’s request to engage with Russian Federation, and decided that undertaking testing in Russian Federation, during RUSADA’s period of non-compliance, was the correct thing to do in order to protect clean athletes”, said a spokeswoman.
Meanwhile, samples of the tests had been sealed and sent to Lausanne, Switzerland, where International Olympic Committee is based, the official added.
Although Kenya appears clear to go to Rio, there are still big problems with its anti-doping program.
It was hoped that a new anti-doping law passed by president Uhuru Kenyatta would end any fears that Kenyan athletes may be prevented from competing in Brazil.
In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, Vitaly Stepanov, a former employee who worked collecting urine and blood samples at an anti-doping clinic at the 2014 Sochi games, admitted that he would often be approached by officials to tamper with results or refrain from testing certain athletes altogether.
WADA’s decision to suspend Kenya’s anti-doping program “is a further reflection of the IAAF’s concerns about the level of commitment to anti-doping at the national level in Kenya”, the IAAF said.
It is possible that the ministry would file a lawsuit against the New York Times, deputy sports minister Yury Nagornykh said at a press conference.
Kenya was given two deadlines by WADA to meet specific criteria to improve its drug testing policies and procedures, but missed both dates. He said the problem areas can be “rewritten or rectified”.
“Although none of the allegations now refer to the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, we have sent a letter to WADA today asking them to investigate immediately whether any wrong doing took place in the WADA accredited Sochi laboratory during the Paralympic Winter Games”. “No ban was mentioned in the body of the letter”.
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A WADA commission late previous year uncovered evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russia that led to the country being banned from all athletics competition by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
