NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – Kenyan authorities scrambled Friday to sort out the doping problems that have put their track and field team’s participation in doubt for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Legislation will now be hurriedly rewritten and pushed through parliament in an attempt to make the country compliant again with global anti-doping rules, the sports minister said.
Sports Minister Hassan Wario maintained Kenya could have a swift solution after its new law was rejected and its drug-testing body declared non-compliant Thursday by the World Anti-Doping Agency. That raised the possibility that track and field’s world governing body might go a step further and suspend the distance-running powerhouse from international competition.
With less than three months to go to the Olympics, an IAAF ban would likely see Kenyan runners such as 800-meter world record-holder David Rudisha excluded from the games.
WADA’s surprise decision to suspend Kenya’s anti-doping body came after the East African nation finally passed legislation last month following two missed deadlines. Kenya celebrated the passing of the law then and hailed it a success, but WADA on Thursday described the legislation as “a complete mess.” Late changes had been made, causing it to be rejected, WADA said.