Kenya to remain in Category A on doping watch-list

Kenya will remain in Category A on the list of nations on watch for anti-doping violations, the Athletics Integrity United (AIU) has said.

Athletics Kenya (AK) said it received a letter from the AIU – the unit that prosecutes international doping cases – that the country will remain classed as a high-risk zone for the rest of the year.

Kenya was placed on WADA’s compliance watch list in 2016 when it was described by World Athletics as one of its “member federations majorly at risk of doping.”

“In accordance to the criteria set out by World Athletics’ national federations anti-doping obligations, it was decided to maintain Athletics Kenya in Category A for 2022,” AIU said in the letter to AK.

Among the rules enforced on Kenya under categorization included doping regulations that require Kenyan athletes to take at least three out-of-competition tests within 10 months of a major championship. The tests have to be at least three weeks apart.

The Anti-doping Agency of Kenya ADAK said at least 13 Kenyans have been sanctioned for violating anti-doping regulations so far this year. Ten of those are suspensions while the other three are bans.

The majority of those cases are related to whereabouts failures, which the AK president Lt. Gen (Rtd) Jackson Tuwei said highlighted that negligence was among the biggest challenges in Kenya’s fight against doping.

As such, Tuwei said that athletes who have not participated in its doping education programs would not be allowed to compete at National Trials for major championships.

A WADA report found Kenyan athletes’ knowledge of banned substances to be as follows: 42% reported a low level of knowledge, 26% reported a medium level of knowledge and 30% reported a high level of knowledge.

Since heightened scrutiny on Kenya’s doping environment in 2016, AK and ADAK have rolled out numerous educational campaigns to promote fair play in sport.