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Close to 60 Kenyan athletes are currently serving doping bans
A "medically-savvy operation" in Kenya has been blamed for covering up doping offences by the country’s athletes.
This is the verdict of the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) following investigations that revealed similar falsified documents in two recent cases.
2018 Commonwealth Games Bronze medalist Eglay Nalyanya is the latest Kenyan athlete to be suspended over a doping violation after she was handed an eight-year ban for using the prohibited 19-Norandrosterone on Tuesday.
It came hot on the heels of marathon runner Betty Wilson Lempus who was given a five-year doping ban in January.
"Nalyanya and Lempus told the AIU they received intramuscular injections while being treated at the same Kenyan hospital and produced falsified medical documents to support their respective claims," the AIU said in a statement, as per AFP.
"In both instances, AIU investigations – in collaboration with the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) – discovered the documents were false; that the doctors listed were fictitious; and that neither athlete had received the respective injection.
"The falsified documents in the two cases showed distinctive likenesses."
Close to 60 Kenyan athletes are currently serving doping bans despite the government committing Ksh3 billion to combat the vice over the next five years.
The AIU believes Kenyan athletes are "being assisted by a person or persons, including someone with considerable medical knowledge".
"It is clear doping in Kenya is increasingly well organised and these cases underline the reality that medically-experienced personnel are involved," said AIU chairman David Howman. "This is a serious threat to our sport."
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