Kenya prove you’re clean?
ALL sports stars from Kenya and Russia will only be able to compete at the Rio Olympics if they have passed an “individual evaluation” to prove they have not been doping.
This unprecedented step was agreed at an emergency summit of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne.
The World Anti-Doping Agency have declared both nations to be “noncompliant” with its rules and IOC president Thomas Bach, above, said their athletes could not be “presumed innocent”.
“The conclusion of the summit was that this non-compliance declaration, and the allegations related to it, put very serious doubts on the presumption of innocence for athletes from these countries,” said Bach. “Therefore, each athlete from these two countries will have to be declared eligible by their respective international federation following an individual procedure and evaluation of the situation.” The decision is a big vote of confidence for the International Association of Athletics Federation’s decision to maintain the ban on Russian athletes. However, the situation in Kenya and Russia is very different, as Bach pointed out.
“In Kenya, there were administrative issues, a lack of funding and absence of testing. In Russia, you have serious allegations about the manipulation of the anti-doping system.
“We have to ensure a level playing field.”