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Kenyan anti-doping bill signed into law

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has ratified a bill that will criminalise doping as demanded by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

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Source: AAP


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Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed into law an anti-doping bill required to avoid a ban from the Rio Olympics.

Video from the president's office shows Kenyatta at State House signing the bill on Wednesday flanked by senior government officials and sportsmen and women.

The law, demanded by the World Anti-Doping Agency, will criminalise doping in a country with a history of middle and long-distance running excellence but which has been tainted by several doping cases in the recent past.

The Kenyan parliament passed the bill on Tuesday.

Two-time London marathon winner Wilson Kipsang told a news conference after the vote that Kenyatta's assent would deliver the go-ahead for action."

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"Nothing was being done before because there was no policy or structure but now they can proceed," Kipsang said.

"There is a wrong perception that all Kenyan athletes, or all athletes, are cheating.

"If someone is, let them be punished, but let the clean athletes run. We want to create that confidence that we are clean."


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