The World Anti-Doping Agency has urged Kenya to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to doping as the country prepares to host the 2029 World Athletics Championship.
WADA chief Witold Bańka made the call after a three-day visit to Nairobi, where he pressed for closer cooperation between anti-doping agencies and Kenyan authorities. He said stronger coordination was needed to prevent and combat doping and to target networks supplying banned substances to athletes.
The 2029 championship will be the first staging of the flagship World Athletics event in Africa, according to the source report. The occasion is expected to bring increased international attention to Kenya’s anti-doping systems.
Call for stronger enforcement
Bańka said Kenya needed a more “determined approach to preventing and fighting doping”. He also linked clean sport to the country’s reputation as the self-described “Home of Champions”.
“To remain respected and credible, it must also be clean,” Bańka said, according to the report.
He called for joint action involving anti-doping organisations and Kenyan authorities, saying such cooperation would help create the foundations for cleaner sport. Bańka also stressed the importance of working with those able to act against people involved in producing, smuggling and trafficking dangerous steroids to athletes.
He further highlighted the need to establish an uncompromised culture of clean sport and to dismantle supplier networks dealing in banned substances, describing those efforts as essential to protecting athletic integrity.
Suspensions since 2017
The call comes against a backdrop of disciplinary cases involving Kenyan athletes. More than 140 Kenyan athletes, mainly long-distance runners, have been suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit since 2017, according to the source report.
WADA’s recommendations place responsibility on both sports authorities and wider enforcement structures to address the supply and use of prohibited substances. The source report did not identify the specific agencies or individuals who would be responsible for action against steroid producers, smugglers and traffickers.
Kenya is preparing to host the 2029 World Athletics Championship, an event that will mark the first time the championships are staged on the African continent.
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