EVER since twelve FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich in April 2015, the world of sport has been relentlessly plagued with allegations of corruption scandals, betting fraud and cheating.
It is unsurprising that the media so viciously scrutinizes the world elites of sport today. Earlier this month, the first elite case of “technological fraud” was discovered after a bike was seized for examination at the Cyclo-cross World Championships after the International Cycling Union (ICU) used electromagnetic-based technology to detect an in-built motor in what was the first case of ‘bike doping’. No wonder Froome was horrifically spat at whilst climbing La Toussuire on his way to claim his second Tour de France title last year, not to mention the cup of urine thrown at him on stage 14. Only last week, tennis fans learned how two of the umpires were banned and how four others remain under investigation for allegedly taking bribes to manipulate scores in tennis matches. As for athletics, well, you could almost call the transition from 2015 to 2016 a clean handover (delete pun as applicable).
It’s no longer just the Russians that tick the doping boxes – cheating is snapping at the heels of Kenya’s athletic governing body, which was in turmoil last week amidst fresh allegations that its athletes are using performance-enhancing drugs. The Kenyans now risk being disqualified from this year’s Olympics – just like Russia – who are currently banned from all international competition after they were accused of state-sponsored doping in November 2015.
The East African country, renowned for its tremendous success in long-distance running, failed to adhere to a deadline set by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the organisation’s ongoing fight to eradicate cheating from athletics and Kenya has now been placed on a ‘watchlist’ by WADA. Kenya will be given two months to comply with new legislation and funding and will attempt to collect the overdue annual funding of £3.5m from the country’s parliament.
Automatic disqualification from athletics’ most prestigious tournament in Rio 2016 will be a far cry from the seven gold medals the Kenyans brought home in Beijing, not to mention their table-topping performance at the 2015 World Championships.
We can take our hats off to the IAAF for disqualifying Russia last November, but have Kenya been let off too lightly? Why haven’t they been reprimanded more harshly? There is no WADA-accredited laboratory in Kenya, and the regional agency does not have the facilities to carry out blood tests, with all blood and urine samples having to be sent to either Europe or South Africa respectively. But these shouldn’t qualify as mitigating circumstances.
The Kenyan government must raise the £3.5 million needed for the country’s annual funding for dope screening, as requested by WADA, or else there’ll be no races to run – let alone win – come the summer. They’ll simply run out of time.
Fiona Tomas
Featured image: KBCTV