Kenya’s athletics team risks being banned from the Rio Olympics should their federation be found to be non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code, according to IAAF president Sebastian Coe.
Coe said he will severely punish any country guilty of attempting to cover up doping, after Kenya last week missed a deadline to prove to WADA they were doing enough to combat drug-taking.
“We know that a disproportionate amount of reputational damage is caused by a relatively few countries and we have to be much more proactive,” Coe told BT Sport’s the Clare Balding Show on Wednesday night.
“Yes, if it means pulling them out of World Championships or Olympic Games then we will have to do that.
“I know the World Anti-Doping Agency has looked very closely at the Kenyan National Anti-Doping Agency. We, of course, monitor that through the IAAF, so that work is ongoing.”
Russia was suspended from world athletics in November for state-sponsored doping, but plans to prove they have made the requisite changes before the Rio games.
