WADA removes Kenya from list of “non-compliant” nations

Kenya was on Thursday removed from the the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of nations deemed 'non-compliant' in their efforts to tackle doping after the Kenyan parliament introduced new legislation to punish drug cheats.

WADA in May put Kenya on its non-compliant list as an anti-doping law passed by the Kenyan parliament was not in line with WADA's own code.

Kenya was on Thursday removed from the the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) list of nations deemed 'non-compliant' in their efforts to tackle doping after the Kenyan parliament introduced new legislation to punish drug cheats.

Kenya's reputation has been tarnished by more than 40 doping cases in the last four years and at one point the East African nation's participation at the Rio Olympics, which starts on Friday, was deemed to be in jeopardy. WADA in May put Kenya on its non-compliant list as an anti-doping law passed by the Kenyan parliament was not in line with WADA's own code. The government later amended the bill.

“Kenya has drafted and adopted anti-doping legislation now deemed to be in line with the Code,” WADA said in a statement.

It added that it had “removed the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) from the list of signatories previously deemed non-compliant".

Among the Kenyan athletes to have failed drug tests are former Boston City Marathon and Chicago Marathon champion, Rita Jeptoo, and twice world cross-country champion Emily Chebet.