NAIROBI, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's supreme sports body has made it mandatory for all sports organizations seeking and getting affiliation to the umbrella body to submit in total to all anti-doping regulations.
During the annual general meeting of the Kenya National Sports Council (KNSC) held in Nairobi on Saturday, the country's supreme advisory board to the national government made it obligatory for all sports organizations to sign the anti-doping clause of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the local chapter, the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) to bind all sports organizations to the same unconditionally.
"To this effect, the sports organizations shall sign the anti-doping clause unconditionally as a precondition for granting and retention of membership," said Nderitu Gikaria, the council chairman.
Kenya has intensify the fight against doping menace that saw the global anti-doping agency put the East African nation on the watch list in 2016 for failing to implement strict rules and guidelines on doping.
WADA operates a principal of strict liability which requires that each athlete is firmly liable for the substances found in their bodily specimen and that an anti-doping rule violation occurs whenever a prohibited substance is found in the specimen whether or not an athlete intentionally or unintentionally used a prohibited substance or was negligent or otherwise at fault.
As Kenya prepares to send athletes to four global competitions in the next one-and-a-half months, the country is leaving nothing to chance to lower the risks of enlisting drug cheats among its roll.
Kenyan runners will be lined up in four competitions soon including the World Indoor Championships, World Half Marathon Championship, Africa Cross Country Championships, and the Commonwealth Games.
Gikaria said that as an association affiliated to the African Union Sports Council, the KNSC will remain committed to complying with the World Anti-Doping Code and protecting the health of Kenyan athletes and the integrity of Kenyan sports, adding that the organization has the capacity to sue and being sued.
