NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 24 – International Olympic Committee (IOC) boss Thomas Bach says he will ask President William Ruto to consider increasing funding for the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya, as one of the pointers on his agenda in their meeting at State House, Nairobi, on Friday morning.
To aid in the fight against drug use among sportsmen, Bach says the national body requires robust funding which will boost testing and education especially among upcoming athletes.
“I will request President Ruto to increase the financial contribution to the anti-doping fight because there is interest in Kenya. We would like to celebrate the achievments of Kenyan athletes in any sport without having to make reference towards outstanding issues of doping and the cases that are always upcoming,” Bach said on Thursday afternoon.
This comes as ADAK has been up in arms over a reduction of budget in this year’s financial year, which the national body says will cripple its operations. Kenya has been continuously gazing in the eye of public scrutiny with increased positive doping cases.
The IOC boss spoke at a Nairobi hotel as he addressed Federation presidents, in his first duty after landing in the country for a three-day tour. Bach has also met representatives of sports people from across different sporting disciplines, and will travel to Eldoret on Friday in more engagements with local athletes.
The IOC boss is also scheduled to meet with President Ruto in the morning tomorrow prior to his flight to Eldoret, and will also travel to Kakuma on Saturday for a refugee athlete program.
“We are grateful to be hosting the IOC president. It is an honor for him to visit us so close after the Olympics. We rely a lit on the support from IOC and having him here is a massive statement for us,” National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) Secretary General Francis Mutuku said.
His sentiments were echoed by his boss, president Paul Tergat. “IOC president Bach has done so much in supporting us to where we have reach and this visit signifies a huge statement in terms of the cordial relations between NOCK and IOC,” said Tergat.
In the meeting with Federation heads, Bach also disclosed that IOC will increase their Olympic Solidarity funding to USD650mn.
“I want to assure that our support to NOCK will continue and we will strengthen this support and cooperation further. We are increasing the Olympic solidarity budget by 10 percent and this is geared to strengthen athlete centred programs,” Bach pointed out.
