Athletics Kenya has revealed that several Olympians and junior athletes are under investigation for alleged age cheating.
Athletics Kenya (AK) has confirmed that it has already forwarded names of athletes, including Olympic participants and four athletes who were dropped from Team Kenya for the World Under-20 Athletics Championships in Peru last year, for further scrutiny over age cheating allegations.
The investigation, spearheaded by the World Athletics’ Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), is expected to unveil the extent of the scandal before sanctions are imposed.
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AK’s Director of Youth and Development, Barnaba Korir, disclosed that they have identified 30 potential cases of age cheating, with ongoing investigations revealing disturbing details.
“It involves parents, coaches, teachers, and athletes, who are already talking to us. They have given us credible leads, and the revelations are disturbing,” Korir stated in an interview with Nation.
However, he remained non-committal on whether AK officials were also implicated in the scandal.
Deep-rooted system of cheating
Korir highlighted that age cheating is more complex than doping, as it involves a network of individuals working together to falsify documents.
“What I can tell you is that it is even worse compared to doping, which is an individual affair. Age cheating involves a system, and that is why we have involved AIU for thorough vetting,” he explained.
The cases under investigation trace back to last year’s junior trials for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships held in Lima, Peru, from August 27 to 31.
World Athletics (WA) had introduced stringent measures to curb age fraud requiring entries to be submitted by June 30 and passport visa applications completed by July 7.
Despite these efforts, investigations have revealed a systematic approach to document falsification, where birth certificates and passports were allegedly tampered with to make athletes appear younger than they actually are.
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Korir revealed that AK has worked closely with immigration officers and the civil registry to track the authenticity of these documents.
“Before someone is handed a passport, clearance should come from the civil registry, but that didn’t happen in most cases where these documents have been falsified,” he noted.
Hospitals and parents provide crucial information
In their probe AK has reached out to hospitals where some of the athletes claim to have been born, uncovering discrepancies in their birth records. Some athletes have now admitted to being coerced into altering their ages.
“These are young people who were coaxed into cheating by their parents, coaches, and teachers. These athletes and some parents are talking, revealing what happened,” Korir added.
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The long serving administrator also admitted that the federation has faced numerous challenges in curbing the vice, including legal battles that have hindered efforts to hold guilty athletes accountable.
“There are cases where we stopped some athletes only to face court injunctions,” Korir stated.
Growing concern among Kenyan athletics officials
In July last year, AK President Jack Tuwei raised the alarm over the increasing cases of age cheating, warning that the trend was spiraling out of control.
Tuwei pointed fingers at coaches, athletes, parents, schools, teachers and even key officials, saying they might be complicit in the fraudulent scheme.
“We have been focusing on doping that has gotten out of hand, but age cheating is becoming a new challenge,” Tuwei remarked.
AK’s latest revelations suggest that Kenya’s athletics reputation is at stake especially with Olympic participants now under scrutiny.
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The AIU is expected to release its findings soon, with possible sanctions looming for those found guilty.
The scandal has sparked concerns about the credibility of Kenya’s junior athletes on the global stage with calls for stricter vetting processes to ensure integrity in future competitions.
