ADAK tightens noose on doping offenders

Doping cheats will now be exposed immediately before any other process takes place after the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) adopted some of the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) code.

ADAK chief executive officer Sarah Shibutse disclosed Thursday that they have adopted the 2021 Anti-doping Code that now allows them to release the names of those who violate anti-doping rules immediately.

ADAK had to go through appeals among other legal processes before they published the names of those affected.

AIU publishes the names of the offenders immediately they are caught before paving way for any legal procedures or appeals.

“We sought advice from AIU on how to go about it and we now have a breakthrough. The AIU directive to publish names of those provisionally suspended came from the advice by the athletes,” said Shibutse.

Shibutse said since the start of their calendar in July last year, they have suspended 20 sportsmen and women mostly from athletics with a couple coming from football and body-building.

Shibutse revealed that they will before the end of this week release names of those under suspension.

Shibutse said they now target to test 3,000 in the coming year with the improved resourcing from the government and testing pool under the Test Distribution Plan (TDP).

“Our target mostly are now athletes who fall under the Elite testing pool by AIU. We shall have each athlete tested four times annually,” said Shibutse.

Kenya escaped a doping ban and was able to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games after former President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law the 2016 Anti-Doping Act, which saw the establishment of ADAK.