World Athletics president Seb Coe has given wise counsel to Kenyan authorities on what needs to be done to come out of Category A of doping.
World Athletics president Seb Coe has explained what Kenya needs to do to come out of Category A, having the highest doping risk to the sport.
Kenya was on the verge of being banned by World Athletics in 2022 but the government stepped in and offered to financially chime in to help in uprooting the rogue athletes to keep the nation on the safe side.
However, the nation still remains in Category A alongside countries like Belarus, Bahrain, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria and Ukraine. Seb Coe revealed that Kenya can come out of that category but it will have to take the right approach.
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Speaking at a press conference at Riadha House in Nairobi, Kenya, on Wednesday, Seb Coe revealed that it is not only the high number of positive cases that places a country in Category A but also the risk factors.
He noted that Kenya has many elite athletes and that is one of the challenges hindering her from coming out of the category.
“What Kenya is doing with the Athletics Integrity Unit and the extra funding going into the anti-doping agency of Kenya I think will make a difference,” Seb Coe shared.
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“As soon as they start making a difference and progress is made, then the council always reviews that watch list and the status.
“But I did make the point that it is not just about your doping but also about the risk that you have and as a nation with hundreds of elite athletes competing all over the world, that elevates your risk profile and that’s what we also wanted to factor in when we put those categories on the table.”
He revealed that so far, the future looks bright for Kenya and she might join Morocco out of the category if the progress continues.
Seb Coe explained that two countries once had an issue being in Category A, and they had to let go of some of their officials to get out of the category.
Seb Coe further noted that as a governing body, they have taken a different approach to the watch list and they do not only focus on the number of positive tests.
“We have a results manipulation working group, and task force and two countries were removed from that watch list simply because they were consistent and, in some cases, some people left the federation and we felt like they posed some challenges and we felt like they were in a much better space,” he revealed.
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“The watchlist is not entirely a construct that deals with the number of positive tests, it’s just an element of it.
“Morocco was in Category A but it put systems in place and first of all reduced the risk and the number of positives and they have been taken off that watch list. We do make progress, there has to be some incentive if you are putting in the right systems.”
Kenya has been in Category A since 2016 but with Seb Coe’s wise counsel, the journey to redemption might have just begun and she will be out of the deadly category in no time.
