The Kenyan police, Athletics Kenya and the World Anti-Doping Agency are probing accusations that doctors in Kenya have injected runners with banned substances in return for a portion of the athletes' winnings.
The allegations surfaced over the weekend when a
German journalist, Hajo Seppelt, revealed he had spent months in Kenya posing as a sports agent in order to gather evidence. He alleged doping is rife among Kenya's runners and the foreign athletes who train in the Rift Valley, a popular base due to its altitude.
"We are working with the Kenya Police and World Anti-Doping Agency to have the culprits arrested for that criminal act," said Isaiah Kiplagat, the chairman of Athletics Kenya. "Kenyans are usually under a microscope for the good performance internationally and for credibility, we have to ensure that anti-doping measures are in place to avoid being suspected." Kiplagat said he expects some doctors to be arrested before December.
A spokesman for WADA confirmed to
Telegraph Sport that it was aware of the allegations. "WADA is aware of the doping allegations in Kenya and has been in communication with the relevant Kenyan authorities. An inquiry has commenced and WADA will continue to monitor its progress."
Seppelt's allegations centre on the use of blood-boosting substances that increase the number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells in the body. He interviewed a former Danish anti-doping official who claimed to have observed changes in the red blood cell counts of some Kenyans who raced in Europe between 2008 and 2010.
It is not the first time this year Kenya's runners have been at the centre of a doping scandal. On the day after David Rudisha's world record victory in the 800m final at the London
Olympics, distance runner Mathew Kisorio failed a drugs test after testing positive at the Kenyan Athletics Championships.
Kisorio confessed and levelled a wide range of accusations saying doping was rife in Kenya with doctors corrupting athletes. "They open a pharmacy and claim they're selling legal medication" he said. "Then they approach the athletes. It's the same all over the country. Athletics Kenya knows now what the situation is. Maybe this is an ongoing problem that finally surfaces."
Kiplagat insisted that from next year more advanced testing would be in use in Kenya as they look to crack down on a problem which threatens to tarnish the country's great running tradition. From 2013 it will be mandatory for directors of domestic racing events to have doping equipment on site. Top-class runners from around the world, including Britons Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe, have used the Rift Valley as a training camp and Kenyan officials will be desperate to protect the sport's reputation for fear of high-profile athletes being put off using the country as a base.