The world’s anti-doping authority has declared that Kenyan national athletics do not comply with international standards, putting the country’s participation in the Rio Olympics this summer at risk.
The World Anti-Doping Agency announced the recommendation from its independent review committee Thursday afternoon on Twitter:
The #WADA CRC has made the unanimous recommendation that #Kenya be declared non-compliant with immediate effect.
— WADA (@wada_ama) May 12, 2016
The CRC cites issues with #Kenya's legislation which it says is not in line with the World Anti-Doping Code.
— WADA (@wada_ama) May 12, 2016
The legislation WADA cites was approved last month. Facing pressure from WADA to crack down on cheating in sports, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta signed an anti-doping bill that created a national agency that would fine and imprison athletes who are found to be guilty of doping, according to the BBC.
The committee’s recommendation must be ratified by WADA’s board, The Guardian reports. The decision to ban Kenya from participating in the summer games is up to the International Olympic Committee.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the global governing body for athletics, investigated doping allegations in Kenya last year. Dick Pound, the former president of WADA and chair of its independent committee, said in November that it is “pretty clear that there is a lot of performance-enhancing drugs being used” in Kenya. Pound led the investigation of Russian athletics that in November alleged widespread doping by athletes and corruption among officials. In response, the IAAF suspended Russia’s membership in the association. WADA officials were sent Russia to overhaul its anti-doping practices in time for Rio, and IAAF will decide on Russia’s membership in June.