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Kenya passed an act of parliament in April to criminalise
doping, but WADA said on Thursday it needed to make changes to
ensure compliance with the code, which sets a framework for
consistent rules and policies around the world.
The WADA ruling meant Kenya, for decades a leading power in
middle- and long-distance running, could be in danger of
exclusion from the Aug. 5-21 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Sports Minister Hassan Wario said WADA had written to him and
"attached the areas of the act which they want to be rewritten
or rectified for us to regain full compliance as soon as
possible.
"Meaning that as soon as parliament reviews those highlighted
bits of the legislation we are fully compliant. No ban was
mentioned in the body of the letter," Wario said a statement.
Earlier, the presidential office said President Uhuru Kenyatta
met the minister and other top officials "over WADA compliance
issues". It was not immediately clear if the minister's
statement was issued before or after that meeting.
Kenyan athletes won two gold medals, four silvers and five
bronze at the last Olympics in London.
Up to 40 Kenyan athletes have failed doping tests since 2012,
the biggest name among them being former three-time Boston City
Marathon and Chicago Marathon champion, Rita Jeptoo, now serving
a ban.
WADA had given Kenya until May to enact the anti-doping law or
be declared non-compliant. The president signed the new
legislation into law on April 22.
But WADA President Craig Reedie said on Thursday that it was not
in line with the organisation's requirements.
"We have been working with Kenya for a number of years and
thought we had agreed that the draft legislation and rules were
entirely compliant, and it would appear that during their
parliamentary process changes were made that unfortunately
weren't code-compliant, so we will be in touch with Kenya to try
and resolve that at the earliest possible moment," he said.
Kenyan running great Kipchoge Keino, who is chairman of the
National Olympic Committee of Kenya, called WADA's move "very
unfortunate" but said his government had not acted quickly
enough against doping.
(Additional reporting and writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by
Mark Trevelyan)
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