Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya has said it will investigate a case where a manager has suspended some athletes in his stable yet they have not been found guilty of vilating the anti-doping rules.
Recently, Rosa Associati suspended top marathoners over unclear circumstances, claiming it will aid in offering information surrounding Olympic marathon champion Jemimah Sumgong’s doping case.
The athletes suspended by the management are former and Paris Marathon champions Visiline Jepkesho and Purity Rionoripo as well as Tokyo Marathon winner Sarah Chepchirchir.
Speaking on Monday during an anti-doping sensitisation seminar for deaf athletes in Eldoret, Adak CEO Japhter Rugut said the move raises a lot of questions yet the athletes have not been found culpable of any doping offence.
“We are going to investigate the matter and the basis of suspension. We will follow it independently,” said Rugut.
According to him, Adak has a way of knowing if the athletes are culpable through testing.
“Suspensions without testing is uncalled for and this has made us to have interests in this matter because it raises a lot of questions. What do they know that we don’t? Rugut asked.
“Why suspend only few athletes yet they are training many of them? Or the athletes are guilty of association? They should come out and put this clear and we are following on the matter.”
Rugut said they will also seek to establish the contractual obligations that the athletes have with the management and if they had negated on the same.
Sumgong, who became the first Kenyan female athlete to win an Olympic marathon gold, tested positive of Erythropoietin in an out-of-competition testing.
Meanwhile, Rugut has said they are in talks with the Ministry of Education to have value-based anti-doping education included in the primary school curriculum.
He said teaching pupils about competition values at an early age will help in curbing doping since if the kids become sportmen and women in the future, they will have embraced the spirit of competing clean.
“Change of culture is gradual and this is why we have talked with the ministry of education so that we can introduce this kind of education in our children at an early age. We want it to be taught in primary and secondary schools,” said Rugut.