Athletics Kenya to ban rogue coaches and deregister camps in January
AK President LT General retired Jackson Tuwei/Photo Athletics Kenya
By James Gitaka
Athletics Kenya is set to register afresh all training camps and
coaches across the country starting January as part of the war against
doping, AK President LT General retired Jackson Tuwei has said.
Tuwei warned that proprietors of the targeted training camps and
coaches who will not meet the set guidelines, will be deregistered
with immediate effect and further sanctioned from carrying out any
athletics related activities in the country.
“We shall start registering coaches individually and training camps
from January with a view to weed out disgruntled elements who are
spoiling the image of our country through doping and indulging in sexual harassment
of our upcoming runners, said Tuwei.
Tuwei who is also the chairman of Sports Arts and Social Development
Fund made the remarks when he addressed winners of last saturday’s
fourth Athletics Kenya premium cross country that was held in Iten,
ElgeyoMarakwet County, a region known as “Home of Champions.”
He expressed concern over the mushrooming of training clubs that do
not meet the set guidelines , with some of them being used to
administer banned substances on upcoming runners besides, widespread of
sexual abuse cases.
The AK President regretted that some managers had gone as far as
converting their homes into athletics training clubs which were not
conducive for upcoming runners, terming such a move unacceptable by
Athletics Kenya.
“We are targeting such training facilities for blacklisting when we
embark on the exercise of registering running clubs and individual
coaches as from January next year,” said Tuwei.
Tuwei sounded the warning in the wake of Kenya escaping from being
sanctioned by World Athletics for the increasing number of doping
cases in the country.
This is after the government moved to increase anti-doping funding
with an allocation of Sh619 million annually for the next five years.
World Athletics President Seb Coe averred that the funding will help
increase the number of tests, investigations besides bolstering the
already comprehensive education programs by Athletics Kenya and
Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK).
Addressing a conference after the World Athletics Council meeting in
Rome, Italy on Wednesday last week, Coe said that its arm of
integrity, Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), will now work closely with
Kenya to implement the next phase of the war against doping.
This was after Sports CS Ababu Namwamba HAD on Wednesday last week
wrote to Coe detailing Kenya’s progress in the war against the doping
scourge as he announced the increase in funding.
Already, fifty-five Kenyan celebrated international runners are
currently banned and eight provisionally suspended, according to the
Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), an independent body formed by World
Athletics to combat doping in the sport.
Kenya is a Category A country under the Anti-Doping Rules of World
Athletics, which means its athletes must undergo at least three
no-notice, out-of-competition urine and blood tests before major
events.
There are currently seven Category A countries, including Belarus,
Ethiopia and Ukraine.
Among the Kenyans caught using banned substances are 2021 Boston
Marathon winner Diana Kipyokei and compatriot Betty Wilson Lempus, who
were provisionally suspended last month for using triamcinolone
acetonide.
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