The Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts Ababu Namwamba has called upon local athletes to run clean in a bid to protect sporting integrity through taming of all unethical behaviours brought as a result of Doping which is one form of cheating in sport.
The new Sports supremo was speaking on Sunday morning during this year’s StanChart Marathon whose organisers enacted measures to ensure only rightful and honest winners are rewarded at the annual road race.
During Cabinet vetting by the Parliament, the 46 year old Namwamba who is making a return to the ministry he served in 2012 acknowledged that the current state of sports in the country is wanting and he would push for the restoration of the lost glory of the well paying and vibrant global sector.
He further reiterated his commitment to supress the doping spree currently tarnishing Athletics Kenya’s image among other challenges ravaging Kenya’s sports industry.
“I have a fairly good view of the sporting terrain and I am not under any illusion as to the state of this terrain at this moment. If cleared to occupy this office, I will first start with clearing the mess in sports ranging from the FIFA ban, doping currently ravaging Athletics, and the lack of a proper pension scheme for sportsmen among others. We cannot continue running Sports and the Arts as a sideshow, this is something which you should know you can live from it fully and be able to take care of yourself” he said
Local Organising Committee chair of StanChart Marathon Peter Gitau said they collaborated with Athletics Kenya (AK) and Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) to curb would-be doping offenders and to monitor all runners throughout the race.
Athletes Integrity Unit (AIU), the body formed by World Athletics to combat doping in the sport has flagged down over 30 Kenyan runners for various doping offences with the list expected to grow since more cases that are yet to be revealed are at ADAK.
Big names – including Olympic gold medallists Jemima Sumgong and Asbel Kiprop – were among the Kenyan stars to test positive in the years after the 2016 Rio scare besides multi-marathon champion Rita Jeptoo who tested positive for EPO in 2014.
In 2016,Kenya was put on the Category-A watch list for doping by the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA).
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