Sports Secretary Hassan Wario has promised to assist the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) and other sports federation to carry out anti doping tests even as the government stepped up the war on drugs.
Sports CS Sports Hassan Wario during the launch of sponsorship of National Oil worth ksh. 14million to national volleyabll women team on 12-11-2014. PHOTO/DENNIS OKEYO
Wario said the government has made plans for federations to carry out tests at a certified laboratory in Qatar.
“The KRU will be able to credibly test food supplements used by players to make sure they do not contain substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA),” he said.
Wario was speaking when he met KRU officials in his office on Thursday. At the event, KRU officials complained that a recent anti-doping report had made blanket condemnation of players.
He said the Qatar laboratory will provide credible results for all substances tested. “We have always supported all the national rugby teams 100 percent and we want them to have a facility that provide credible results on tested substances.”
Wario said the report by the Anti-Doping Task Force was now a government document and it would direct the way forward.
The KRU as well as other sports associations have time and again protested against Wekesa’s utterances since releasing the report three months ago.
PROPOSED MASS EDUCATION
In Thursday’s meeting, KRU said they supported the government intervention and welcomed its proposed mass education, especially among the youth, about the dangers of drug use in sports.
KRU chair, Mwangi Muthee, who attended the meeting said: “We are glad the government has taken up this matter. The Task Force, for instance put into suspicion all modern nutrition methods required by the elite athletes.
“We were getting questions from all over the world regarding coaches of our past and present national teams such as Mike Friday (current USA Sevens head coach), Paul Treu (formerly South Africa Sevens head)] and Jerome Paarwater, a South African head coach of the Kenya XVs national team.”
Muthee said a blanket condemnation of nutrition methods used by KRU was based on misleading methods of testing. “When you talk of consumption of food containing steroids, what do you really mean? Are they synthetic or natural?
“Did you know that even ordinary foods we consume every day, for instance eggs, contain steroids? The world anti-doping agency is specific on banned substances and we are committed to ensuring that our rugby players do not use the banned substances.”
By Gilbert Wandera, The Standard