Italian Federico Rosa and Dutchman Gerard Van De Veen have had their training licences suspended by Athletics Kenya (AK) on Monday pending a probe into their role in a doping scandal which has engulfed the sport.
Rosa and Van De Veen manage top Kenyan elite athletes including 2013 London marathon women’s winner Priscah Jeptoo and current and former men’s world marathon record holders Dennis Kimetto and Wilson Kipsang.
“You are aware that at the beginning of the year, we announced that any manager who has more than three athletes testing positive for drugs will have their licences revoked,” AK chairman Isaiah Kiplagat told a news conference.
“Today we have decided to ask Dr Rosa and Gerard Van De Veen to step aside for six months for the purposes of us to investigate their roles in this doping scandal.
“These two men manage the elite athletes in the contracts, and some of them have recently been suspended for failing dope tests.
“We have appointed a probe team composed of AK officials, Anti-Doping Association of Kenya (ADAK) and the Criminal Investigations Department(CID) to investigate their roles. If they are found guilty they will be removed,” Kiplagat said.
One notable athlete managed by Rosa was disgraced marathon runner Rita Jeptoo, who is serving a two-year ban for testing positive for the blood-boosting hormone EPO in an out-of-competition test in Kenya last September.