Kenyan President William Ruto announced on Thursday that his government will redouble its efforts to “fight doping”. of the country’s athletes -home of some of the best runners in the world-, after meeting in Nairobi with the head of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe.
“Kenya will spare no effort in the fight against doping“After several scandals involving Kenyan athletes last year, the president said through his account on the Twitter social network.
“We will work with partners, athletes and their contacts to fight doping, which threatens our heritage,” added Ruto, who received Coe today at the Kenyan Presidency (State House), who is visiting the country this week. .
The head of state also indicated that his government will use 3,700 million shillings (about 28.2 million euros) to carry out anti-doping programs in the country for the next five years.
Last November, the Kenyan government promised to step up its programs against doping athletes, after several athletes in the country were suspended for testing positive for these substances.
then, The African country’s Sports Ministry has acknowledged that it is in the midst of a “doping crisis.”
“We will upgrade the banned substances to hard drugs so that the detainees are treated as heroin or cocaine dealers,” Kenyan Sports Minister Ababu Namwamba said when he took office in November.
Coe, for his part, expressed concern about the doping scandals in Kenya and assured that month that the country “will be on the (World Athletics) watch list for many years.”
However, the former British athlete emphasized that his institution will not ban Kenya’s participation in international competitions thanks to the authorities’ promises to tackle the problem.
In mid-December another doping scandal was revealed involving Kenyans Alice Jepkemboi Kimutai and Johnstone Kibet Maiyo, both marathon runners, and sprinter Mark Otieno.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has banned both marathon runners from participating in competitions for the next three years, while Otieno will not be able to compete for two years.
Source: La Verdad
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