Kenyan anti-doping programme halted by budget cuts

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00:00Kenya's athletics known for its world-class distance runners faces a

00:04tough threat due to budget cuts affecting its anti-doping efforts. Now

00:09this could jeopardize Kenya's participation in international

00:14competitions including the upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Our correspondent

00:21Olivia Bezo brings us more.

00:25Kenya's anti-doping agency is facing a huge crisis. It needs the equivalent of

00:321.5 million euros in order to be able to operate properly but this year it's only

00:37received 10% of that amount. The national government has said that these cuts are

00:43a direct result of the 2024 finance bill having been withdrawn because of

00:47nationwide protests. But the impact of these cuts is already being felt. The

00:53agency has said that it hasn't been able to conduct any anti-doping tests

00:58since the beginning of July so before the 2024 Paris Games took place. The

01:04anti-doping agency in Kenya was created in 2016. It was created after the

01:10national team narrowly escaped a ban from participating in the Rio Olympics

01:15because of a series of doping scandals. Since then the agency has been working

01:20incredibly hard to repair Kenya's image on the international stage. But the

01:26agency's chief has said that all of this hard work is now hanging by a thread

01:31because of these cuts. He also warned that the stakes have never been higher.

01:36Kenya is expected to host the football African Nations Championship in February

01:42but this ongoing doping scandal could prohibit Kenya from hosting any

01:48international sporting events.

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