NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 8 – All coaches working with Kenyan athletes within or outside the country must now undergo examination and certification by Athletics Kenya (AK) before providing such services.
This is one of the stringent measures introduced by the federation to curb increasing cases of anti-doping violations involving the country’s athletes.
In a statement released on Wednesday, AK said they are alarmed by the rising use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes.
“Athletics Kenya is gravely concerned over the spiraling cases of the use, and the abetting in the use of banned performance-enhancing substances among Kenya’s elite athletes. As a federation, we continue to take all possible measures to educate athletes, coaches, teachers and all personnel involved in the professional athletics ecosystem,” the statement read.
Additionally, all foreign coaches and athletics personnel working with Kenyan athletes within and abroad will now have to obtain licensing from AK who will facilitate them to obtain relevant work permits.
“The federation will subsequently forward approved applications from such persons operating within Kenya to the Department of Immigration for provision of requisite work permits. Any foreign coach or athlete support personnel without such clearance will not be allowed to operate within the country,” AK said.
These coaches will also undergo routine and random inspection to ascertain their movements and activities while in the country.
“AK may randomly but also routinely require foreign coaches and athletes’ support personnel to offer history of their movement and contacts within and without the country in respect to handling Kenyan athletes,” AK said.
The statement continues: “All foreign athletes training in Kenya must furnish the federation with their physical contacts and the particulars of their Kenyan contact persons henceforth.”
Furthermore, AK will from next month embark on the process of evaluating and registering training camps across the country to weed out rogue individuals who prey on young, upcoming athletes.
“Athletics Kenya will commence the registration of athletics training camps including details of all personnel in residence therein and their respective roles vis-a-vis the athletes,” they said.
The latest measures come only two weeks since the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) provisionally suspended Michael Njenga and Maiyo Johnstone for alleged use of banned substances norandrosterone and erythropoietin (EPO) respectively.
On the eve of the men’s marathon race at World Championships in Oregon in July, the 2019 Boston Marathon champion Lawrence Cherono was provisionally suspended after testing positive for trimetazidine.
Kenya remains in Category A of the list of nations whose athletes are most susceptible to doping offences and subsequently is subject to tighter anti-doping rules for its athletes to participate at major championships.
Most notable is the requirement that its athletes must undergo at least three out-of-competition tests in a 10-month period before a major championship.
