(Refiles amending Soccer to Athletics in headline text)
By Vincent Mumo Nzilani
NAIROBI, Oct 14 (Reuters) – World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said progress was being made in the fight against doping in Kenya, but acknowledged there was still significant work to do as the country prepares to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships.
Coe was in Nairobi on Wednesday to promote the championships awarded to Kenya, one of the world’s most successful athletics nations but one that has faced persistent concerns over doping.
More than 140 Kenyan athletes have been sanctioned for doping offences since the Athletics Integrity Unit was established in 2017.
“Look, we’re making progress,” Coe told reporters. “A few years ago I did actually persuade the government to dedicate even higher levels of funding to this challenge.
“I think we’ve made good progress in some areas. We still have work to do in others.”
Coe said the creation of the independent AIU, one of the reforms introduced after he became World Athletics president in 2015, had strengthened the sport’s approach to combating doping.
“One of the first things I did when I became president of World Athletics 11 years ago was the reform of the sport,” said Coe, a double Olympic champion in the 1,500 metres. “And sitting at the epicentre of those reforms was, of course, the creation of the Athletics Integrity Unit.
“The testing from the Athletics Integrity Unit’s point of view is more intense, it’s more extensive, and it’s much more intelligence-based led than it was under the old system.”
Coe illustrated the importance of aggressive testing with a simple analogy.
“As they often say, if you want to catch fish, you have to go fishing,” he said.
He cautioned that doping could never be eradicated completely but said athletics was in a considerably stronger position than it was 10 years ago.
“We’ll never be in a perfect world. You have to accept that. I have to accept that,” he said.
Coe said hosting the World Championships could bring greater focus to Kenya’s efforts to tackle the problem.
“Is there more work to be done? Yes. Will these championships lend more focus to that? Absolutely they will,” he said. “The Athletics Integrity Unit is very clear in their reports to me that progress is being made. But look, we are coming from a long way.”
Nairobi will be the first African city to stage the World Championships. The Kenyan capital had previously failed in its bid to host the event in 2025, which went to Tokyo. Nairobi previously staged the World U18 Championships in 2017 and the World U20 Championships in 2021.
(Reporting by Vincent Mumo Nzilani in Nairobi, writing by Lori Ewing in Manchester;Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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