This was
contained in a statement in a statement from the Athletics Integrity Unit
obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday.
The
Athletics Integrity Unit is an independent body created by World Athletics that
manages all integrity issues – both doping and non-doping.
The
statement showed that a total of 20 athletes were ineligible with Nigeria being
the most affected.
Other
countries affected are Belarus, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, and Ukraine.
The
athletes were disqualified for not meeting the minimum testing requirements
under Rule 15 governing National Anti-Doping Federation.
The
statement titled, “20 athletes not eligible for Tokyo 2020 as minimum testing
requirements not met by ‘category a’ federations”, read in part, “Despite
significant improvements in the domestic testing programmes in countries
categorised as being the highest doping risk to the sport under the World
Athletics Anti-Doping Rules (Anti-Doping Rules), 18 athletes from the final
entries for the Tokyo Olympic Games are not eligible to compete because the
minimum testing requirements under Rule 15 of the Anti-Doping Rules were not
met by ‘Category A’ Federations.
“In
addition, two athletes from Kenya were replaced by the National Federation
prior to the submission of their entries to World Athletics.
“Nigeria is
the most affected country, not meeting the minimum testing requirements under
Rule 15 for 10 athletes.
“Nigeria
was included in Category A at the start of 2020 following a continued period of
weak domestic testing levels.
“Under the
framework of Rule 15 governing National Federation Anti-Doping Obligations,
which came into force in January 2019, National Federations are accountable for
ensuring appropriate anti-doping measures are in place in their respective
jurisdictions.
“Among
other things, the Rule sets out minimum requirements for testing on the
national teams of ‘Category A’ federations deemed to have the highest doping
risk and considered as a threat to the overall integrity of the sport.
“The key
requirement in Rule 15 is that an athlete from a ‘Category A’ country must
undergo at least three no-notice out-of-competition tests (urine and blood)
conducted no less than 3 weeks apart in the 10 months leading up to a major
event. Only then do they become eligible to represent their national team at
the World Athletics Championships or the Olympic Games.
“For the
year 2021, the seven identified ‘Category A’ National Federations are: Belarus,
Bahrain, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and Ukraine. The relevant data for
the number of athletes from each federation for whom the testing requirements
of Rule 15 were not met is set out in the table below:
“In the
lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games, the ‘Category A’ Federations, in
partnership with their respective National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs),
generally made significant progress with respect to their domestic testing
programmes.”
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