Kenya is at a huge risk of not appearing at this year’s Summer Olympic Games set to be held in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro, after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) suspended its anti-doping body.
WADA branded the East African nation’s new anti-doping laws ‘a complete mess.’
The new laws passed by the athletics powerhouse ‘s parliament last month were seen as a lifeline to resolve its questionable anti-doping standards following months of ultimatums from the world anti-doping body for compliance.
“We had agreement with Kenya and the (sporting) authorities on the legislation that we wished them to put through parliament. During the parliamentary process, there were changes, and some of those changes mean that the current state of the law is not compliant with the (WADA) code,” WADA’s president Sir Craig Reedie said.
This means the country’s top athletes such as 800 meters world record holder David Rudisha as well as last month’s London Marathon champions Eliud Kipchoge and Jemima Sumgong may not participate in the August Rio Olympics.
The final decision as to whether Kenya will be eligible to appear in Rio however lies with athletics’ world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
