Suspended AK top trio to know fate in March

The report into allegations facing three suspended top Athletics Kenya (AK) officials will be forwarded to the IAAF Ethics Commission next month according to investigating, lawyer Sharad Rao.

Federation president Isaiah Kiplagat, IAAF Council Member and Vice-president David Okeyo and Team Leader to the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, Joseph Kinyua, were suspended for 180 days by governing body, IAAF after being accused of subverting anti-doping processes and potentially diverting sponsorship funds from Nike last November.

Kiplagat is additionally accused of accepting, either personally or on behalf of AK, an “apparent gift” of two motor vehicles from the Qatar Association of Athletics Federations in the period from 2014 to 2015. During that time Doha was bidding to host the 2019 world championships.

The former director of public prosecutions in Kenya, Rao, who was appointed by the IAAF Ethics Commission to lead the probe, revealed investigations into the three were almost complete.

“Latest by the end March, but very likely by the middle of March. It’s not a verdict, what I will be doing report back to the IAAF Ethics Commission. If my report indicates there has been wrong doing, they will actually hear the matter.

“It’s not a verdict, but of course my investigation goes a long way towards establishing whether or not there is evidence to prove those allegations,” the former judge and chairman of Kenya’s past director of prosecutions in Kenya said.

“IAAF is very serious because they have their problems also. Apart from being concerned about doping that brings a bad name and people cannot trust in results. If there are athletes performing under performance enhancing drugs, then obviously the result shown is not a genuine result.

“There are also sponsors withdrawing and the IAAF cannot afford that,” he added.

Before the suspensions, Kiplagat was well into his 23rd year at the helm of the most successful Kenyan federation whilst Okeyo had been voted into the IAAF Council as a member, the senior decision making organ of the world body following the election congress at Beijing World Championships.

Kinyua was ousted as federation treasurer in 2012 but served as the chairman, Eastern Region, one of the 16 affiliate branches of AK.

-By Raymond Ochieng