NAIROBI, July 27 (Xinhua) -- A Kenyan sprinter was expelled from the country's squad for the Nigeria 2018 CAA Africa Championships in Athletics on Friday after reportedly failing a drug test.
The athlete reportedly returned adverse results following a test conducted by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) at a local meeting with Athletics Kenya declining to release the identity of the runner.
The yet-to-be-named sprinter has been given 21 days to respond to doping charges leveled against him in accordance to the World Anti Doping Agency Doping Control protocol.
ADAK CEO, Japhter Rugut and AK President Jackson Tuwei were not available for comment although the athlete involved who ran for Kenya at the Gold Coast 2018 and Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
The short distance athlete also featured at the Barcelona 2012 IAAF World U-20 Championships and the sample that tested positive was collected at the AK National Athletics Championships in Nairobi that ran from June 21 to 23.
Kenyan athletics has been rocked by damaging doping reports with a spike in cases since 2012 that saw the country placed under the IAAF watch list in the run up to the 2016 Rio Olympics Games.
Last week, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of the IAAF confirmed disciplinary hearing for Olympic and three-time world champion, Asbel Kiprop, who tested positive for blood booster rEPO following an out of competition test conducted in November last year.
Kiprop who won his last men's 1,500m title at the Beijing 2015 worlds has strenuously denied the allegations, claiming his sample was switched while disclosing he was tipped of the test a day prior and Doping Control Officers who came to his Eldoret home demanded money.
The AIU is also pursuing a longer ban for Rio Olympic women's marathon champion, Jemimah Sumgong, who was suspended from competition for four years by ADAK after testing positive for rEPO.
AIU also confirmed last week they had opened a fresh charge of subverting the Doping Control procedures after Sumgong who won the 2016 London Marathon lied in her defense, saying she had been injected with the banned substance at a hospital visit to treat an ectopic pregnancy. Enditem
