Last Friday, the level of the doping menace in the country was further exposed after the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (Adak) released the names of various sports-persons who have been handed provisional suspensions for engaging in this offence.
The story did not make for easy reading for many of us in the sports sector. It was a moment we lowered our heads in shame, acknowledging that indeed there is a lot to do to rid our country of unscrupulous characters who are perpetrating this vice.
Worse still was that many of those who found themselves on this list of shame have represented the country on many occasions and even made it to the podium.
Such revelations only go further to dent our image as a sporting powerhouse as far as athletics is concerned – it has to stop.
Notably, the list of those suspended was wide-ranging – from athletes to judokas to footballers.
If there is anything we can learn from this is that doping continues to grow into a monster that is continually raring to shred the careers of promising sportsmen and women of Kenya.
The contents of the list further show that doping is no longer a menace exclusive to athletics but also other sports disciplines in the country.
What this calls for is intensive and concerted efforts to weed out this problem.
It is important that we, as sports stakeholders, intensify awareness programs at all levels of the industry to inculcate values of integrity, fairness and transparency in past, present and future athletes.
Though embarrassing, this list of provisionally-suspended sports-persons – the largest single list in our sporting history – it was necessary for ADAK to release it and expose the exact extent of this problem in our country.
It was an act of transparency and integrity, which communicates the newfound zeal of the multi-sectoral efforts to eradicate doping.
For those tempted to engage in the vice, it is a reminder that doping is an expensive act that will not eventually reap rewards but heartache for the culprits.
As Athletics Kenya (AK), we have encountered this menace for the longest time and are raring to work with other sports federations – under the umbrella of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) – to make doping a part of Kenya’s history and not the present or the future. BY DAILY NATION