Kenyan athletes seeking to kick-start competitive running at the Monaco Diamond League can now rest easy after Athletics Kenya President Jackson Tuwei assured of plans to facilitate their entry.
Kenya is among nations yet to be cleared to travel to the Schengen countries from the time the European Union opened its borders last month.
Tuwei, in an interview on KBC TV, said the government through the Ministry of Sports had engaged the Monaco Consulate with an eye of obtaining clearance for the athletes, who include world 1500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot.
The competition is due in a fortnight.
"We are organising for their visas following the restrictions which were imposed two months ago. We are coordinating with the government and an application has already been done. I am aware the athletes have been training for the event for a while and they are raring to go after a long wait," said Tuwei.
Tuwei, who welcomed the change of dates for the World U20 Championships, said they will not lock out rookies who will be interested in killing two birds with one stone by participating in both the junior event and the Olympics.
The U20 championships which was initially scheduled for early last month in Nairobi will now be held between August 17 and 22 August next year, one week after the Tokyo Olympic Games.
"As the defending champions, we are comfortable with the new dates given by the World Athletics. They wanted us to host the event in 2022 but we made a special appeal to have it next year after consulting within the federation and the government. Youngsters who will qualify for the two events will be allowed to compete," he revealed.
Meanwhile, Tuwei lashed out at senior athletes who have been implicated in doping for whereabouts failures. He labelled them as irresponsible athletes whose actions have soiled their reputation and that of the country.
"They are not only giving themselves a bad name out there but the country too. They have earned global respect for winning races in major events but by failing to comply with the simple doping rules, they have damaged their reputation and that of the country," he added
