Athletics Kenya hits out over doping allegations

Broadcaster ARD has released a video, made in conjunction with the Sunday Times, which shows Kenyan athletics manager Michael Rotich agreeing to provide advanced warning of drugs tests in return for a £10,000 bribe.

Published : Aug 07, 2016 16:13 IST

Representative image.
Representative image.
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Representative image.

Athletics Kenya (AK) hit out at a German investigative journalist on Twitter after the country found itself at the centre of sport's latest doping scandal.

Broadcaster ARD has released a video, made in conjunction with the Sunday Times, which shows Kenyan athletics manager Michael Rotich agreeing to provide advanced warning of drugs tests in return for a £10,000 bribe.

The allegations emerged just a day after t he country was removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) list of "non-compliant" nations, and on the first full day of action at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Hajo Seppelt publicised the story by tweeting:

AK responded: "You know what? You're already loser on this jealousy on Kenyans. Give us a recap of 1976 Games."

The tweet - described by Seppelt as "funny" - has since been deleted, and the journalist had earlier shared a more measured response to the allegations from AK spokesperson Evans Bosire.

"The immediate action we are taking is to call the team manager back so we can investigate further his role in this," Bosire is quoted as saying.

"These are very serious allegations and we cannot have someone of that character managing our team. We cannot just sweep it under the carpet."

Seppelt added that AK was considering handing the case over to the police.

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