Kenya as future hosts of the World Athletics Championship must strive for zero tolerance for drugs in sport, the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) boss said on Tuesday.

Despite a long-running doping crisis, Kenya were last month awarded the 2029 World Athletics Championships, the first time the event will be held in Africa.

“Kenya proudly calls itself the Home of Champions. But for that home to remain respected and credible, it must also be clean,” WADA chief Witold Banka said at the end of a three-day visit to the east African country.

“That is why Kenya needs a strong culture of clean sport, zero tolerance for doping, and a more determined approach to preventing and fighting doping. 

“Kenya is a great sporting nation full of great athletes and you become, the more important area of sport when it comes to organising major sporting events.

“It’s a big honour for you but it’s a bigger responsibility as well and brings pressure and big requirements from our side as well”, Banka added.

Banka said that joint cooperation with Kenyan authorities would help lay the foundations for a cleaner sport.

“WADA or ADAK (Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya) alone cannot achieve its vision if we do not cooperate with those who have the power to go against those who are producing, smuggling and trafficking dangerous steroids to your athletes,” he said.

“We’ve found a common understanding and we are on the same track and there’s a clear goal within Kenya for zero tolerance for doping policy and it has to be established immediately with joint actions and a more aggressive approach to those who are destroying the image of the country and the reputation of the athletes.”

More than 140 Kenyan athletes, mainly long-distance runners, have been suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) since 2017.