How Ethiopia is fighing doping menace

Ethiopia Athletics Federation and the national government has put stringent measures to curb doping that saw World Athletics put the country in Category ‘A’ of countries where doping is most prevalent.

In an interview,  Ethiopian athletics legend Haile Gebrselassie who served as head of the country’s athletics federation from November 2016 to November 2018 before handing over the reins to Derartu Tulu, said the country changed the law to criminalise doping, which worked well.

He says that when he took office, doping was slowly raising its ugly head in Ethiopian athletics.

Officials moved quickly to save the situation by changing the sports constitution to criminalize doping.

Those who violate anti-doping rules in the country are subject to a jail term of up to five years.

He reckons that increased testing of athletes alone would not discourage the menace.

“Those caught doping in Ethiopia are arrested and imprisoned for up to five years. Many who were promoting the vice here ran away to other countries because the law was catching up with them. That is why the number of drug cheats is dwindling in Ethiopia,” the two-time Olympics 10,000 metres champion said.

“When the law was introduced, people saw that we were serious and they left the country. Some  went to Europe to live there, others went to USA and they have never returned. This was the only way we could clean the sport and those who are thinking of going that route will face the full force of the law.

We need clean sports,  and that means being fair to everyone,” he said.

Kenya is currently fighting to contain the doping menace, with up to 90 athletes  sanctioned in the last four years, the number of doping cases is falling in Ehiopia. 

There are less than 10 Ethiopian athletes who have been flagged down for doping.

He added that global bodies mandated to tackle doping should also investigate technology that enables athletes to even run faster.

“Doping is a big issue now and my advice to the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) officials is that they should not only look at the list of prohibited substances that is being updated yearly but also get into the technology because there is more than meets the eye.

“Someone using Erythropoietin (EPO) cannot be compared to one using the improved shoe technology. The shoes enable one to run three minutes faster and all these factors must be checked by the bodies concerned. We need to be fair in all areas. I still don’t fully trust the shoe technology,” Gebrselassie said.

He is of the opinion that athletics managers and coaches should also take responsibility in doping cases, especially when one is handling many suspended athletes.

Gebrselassie is of the opinion that doping is stealing money from those who organise races and those who entered the race to run clean, and that should be discouraged by all means.

“During our days, competition was fair and it was real competition and my advice to athletes is that they should run clean. It doesn’t matter in what position one finishes in a race. They should not be influenced by the performance of their training mates or friends,” he says.

“We have ignorant athletes who might not know what is happening and they can be introduced to the banned substances  easily because they are from rural areas and are naïve. They should be taught and discouraged from attempting to boost their performance using banned drugs,”  Gebrselassie, who is a businessman and runs a chain of Hotels known as Haile Hotels and Resorts Group in Ethiopia, said.

He has also invested in the coffee sector, and is the sole distributor of Hyundai cars in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, Belarus and Ukraine are also in Category ‘A’ of countries where doping is most prevalent.

Among the conditions set by the Athletics Integrity Unit is rigorous testing.

Athletes from these  countries are required to, among other things, undergo at least  three tests out of competition 10 months prior to the World Athletics Championships. One of these tests should be on a blood sample.

In Kenya, the government has committed to support the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) through funding to the tune of five million dollars over the next five years as one way of trying to end the menace.

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