Former Kenya athletics chief banned 10 years for corruption

AFP  |  Paris 

Kenya's former team has been banned for 10 years for agreeing to provide advance notice to athletes of doping tests in exchange for money, the IAAF announced Wednesday.

Rotich was exposed by two undercover journalists from in an article published in August 2016 and was sent home in disgrace from in Rio which were under way at the time.

He was also provisionally banned by the IAAF from his coaching job.

In a statement Wednesday an panel said Rotich had offered to warn athletes of impending tests so they could flush doping substances from their system in order to circumvent tests.

He also offered to provide excuses which athletes could use to avoid being penalised for missing tests.

"The panel reiterates that the charges which it has found to be established are serious," the statement said.

"The conduct of Rotich was dishonest and corrupt. He sought to undermine anti-doping controls and to obtain a personal financial benefit in doing so."

The two Sunday Times journalists posing as the and coach of a fictional British team met Rotich three times in early 2016, according to the Ethics panel.

They were promised advance warning of doping tests in return for ?10,000 ($12,600, 11,300 euros).

The statement said that it had found no evidence that Rotich did in fact provide advance notice of doping tests nor that he had ever received payments.

"However the panel has found that Rotich acted corruptly and in deliberate violation of core principles of the Code (of Ethics), it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Wed, May 22 2019. 17:56 IST