Kenyan athletes slam 'too drastic' WADA decision

Asbel Kiprop, former Olympic champion and reigning three-time world 1,500 metres champion, said on Twitter: "We believe in talent hardwork & dreams breakthrough; safe Kenya's clean athletes dreams to @Rio2016". By Michael Buholzer (AFP/File)

Nairobi (AFP) - Kenyan athletes and the country's chief doping investigator have slammed as "too drastic" the World Anti-Doping Agency's decision Thursday to declare the African nation in breach of the global body's code.

René Bouchard, Chairman of WADA's compliance review committee (CRC), said Kenya's drug testing agency had been declared "non-compliant with immediate effect", a decision that could lead to the country's athletes being barred from the Olympics.

This was despite Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta signing a new anti-doping law on April 22, which it had been hoped would satisfy WADA and clear the way to compete in the Rio de Janeiro Games in August.

"In view of the circumstances, the decision is counter productive and too drastic," said Kenyan Sharad Rao, who had been commissioned by the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) Ethics Commission to investigate doping in his country.

"If one way or another, the law does not meet WADA expectations, it can be corrected," said Rao.

World champion javelin thrower Julius Yego told AFP: "The news is not good for us athletes, who have been working extra hard at training to prepare for the Olympic Games.

"It is not only about the risk of not going to Rio, but it is also that the good name of Kenya is at stake here. Those athletes who were found to have taken drugs have been disciplined," Yego continued.

Asbel Kiprop, former Olympic champion and reigning three-time world 1,500 metres champion, said on Twitter: "We believe in talent hardwork & dreams breakthrough; safe Kenya's clean athletes dreams to @Rio2016."

Kenyan sports minister Hassan Wario said he would comment once he had received the WADA report in full.

Some 40 Kenyan athletes have been implicated in doping over the past three years. In February, Athletics Kenya chief executive Isaac Mwangi was suspended for six months by the IAAF Ethics Board over a potential subversion of the anti-doping process.

Kenya, a traditional stronghold of distance running, topped the medals table at the 2015 World Athletics Championships in Beijing for the first time in their history, with 16 medals -- seven gold, six silver and three bronze.