Kenya Found Non-Compliant With Antidoping Rules

The World Anti-Doping Agency has ruled Kenya “non-compliant” after the country missed two key deadlines surrounding anti-doping policing, it was announced on Thursday. The ruling came down in Montreal at a WADA board meeting and puts the East African nation’s participation at the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio in jeopardy.

“As in all cases of non-compliance, WADA will now hand the decision over to its stakeholders, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and UNESCO for their consideration and action,” WADA said on Thursday.

Last month, Kenyan president Uluru Kenyatta pushed through legislation which criminalizes doping in his country, saying the law was the “continuation, not the end, of our efforts to stand against cheating and corruption in the sporting and athletics arena.” The country also recently committed to establishing a national anti-doping agency on its own soil.

Kenya could face the same fate as Russia, which has been banned from international competition following revelations of widespread doping amongst its Olympic athletes. The decision regarding Kenya’s participation in the Rio Games is now in the hands of the International Olympic Committee. Kenyan athletes, who a month ago seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when the new anti-doping legislation was announced, are now more confused than anything else.

“Really @wada_ama I thought the ministry said they were in constant contact with you when developing the bill,” Wesley Korir, who was recently named to Kenya’s Olympic marathon team for Rio, Tweeted on Thursday. “We need the ministry to make public its correspondence with WADA concerning the drafting and approval of the bill.”