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WADA worried by new Kenya doping allegations

NEW YORK – A Kenyan television documentary purportedly showing a man being offered an injection of the blood booster erythropoietin (EPO) in a downtown pharmacy for US$100 (S$135) corroborates previous doping allegations in the country, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said on Thursday.

David Howman, director-general of the WADA, at a symposium in Lausanne last month. Howman said the allegations the documentary made were ‘of concern to the WADA and the broader anti-doping community’. PHOTO: AP

David Howman, director-general of the WADA, at a symposium in Lausanne last month. Howman said the allegations the documentary made were ‘of concern to the WADA and the broader anti-doping community’. PHOTO: AP

NEW YORK – A Kenyan television documentary purportedly showing a man being offered an injection of the blood booster erythropoietin (EPO) in a downtown pharmacy for US$100 (S$135) corroborates previous doping allegations in the country, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said on Thursday.

Poisoned Spikes, a documentary aired by Citizen Television, was concerning and “adds to” many of the findings of a 2012 German TV programme that initially uncovered doping problems in Kenya, WADA director-general David Howman said in a statement.

WADA officials had viewed the Kenyan documentary, Howman said, and the allegations it made were “of concern to the WADA and the broader anti-doping community”.

The world anti-doping body will discuss the documentary with authorities on a visit to Kenya next week.

The Kenyan documentary was aired in a series of episodes in February and March, and appears to support the German TV programme’s allegations that EPO and other banned substances are easily available in Kenya. The East African country has had its reputation as a distance-running powerhouse eroded by doping claims. More than 30 Kenyan athletes have failed doping tests in the past five years, according to the national federation.

In a sequence in the latest documentary, a man posing as an athlete negotiates to buy an EPO injection from a man claiming to be a doctor for around US$100. With a hidden camera recording in a back room of a pharmacy, the athlete expresses concern over the health implications of EPO.

“Why? There is no harm,” the doctor says. “This is what we do almost every day.”

The incident took place in the town of Kapsabet in western Kenya, near the famous high-altitude running town of Eldoret, where many top athletes train.

In another exchange, a telephone call is made to a man identified as a pharmacist, who is selling EPO for 30,000 Kenyan shillings, or S$432. After negotiations, he settles for S$289. The man posing as the athlete and buyer says his sister wants to know what the drug is and if it is harmful.

“Just tell her it is EPO, EPO,” the pharmacist says, rejecting any health concerns. “How many have died and how many have we killed? You know what, if she doesn’t want you to be assisted, let her say ... tell her if any mistake happens, it is between you and the doctor.”

In the documentary, the president of the Kenyan athletics federation, Mr Isaiah Kiplagat, said it had been alleged that doctors and pharmacists offering EPO and other banned substances were also operating in Iten and Eldoret, as well as the capital, Nairobi.

Poisoned Spikes also touched on the cases of banned athletes Rita Jeptoo and Mathew Kisorio.

Marathon champion Jeptoo was banned for two years in January for testing positive for EPO in an out-of-competition test in Kenya late last year. In an interview, her ex-partner blamed her foreign agents for her doping, saying they gave her unidentified tablets and “special water” to take.

Kisorio said he tested positive for steroids in 2012 after being injected with an unknown substance by a doctor, who told him “it would make my muscles stronger”. AP

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