Harambee Stars duo banned over doping
Two Harambee Stars players have been red-carded by Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) following a report that implicated them in the use of banned substances.
The two players, Tusker FC midfielder Teddy Osok and his Bandari FC counterpart Whyvonne Isuza have separately been sanctioned by ADAK for violation of rules. The duo are now staring at a combined six years out in the cold going by World Anti-Doping Agency Rules.
According to a report by ADAK following their investigation, Osok was found to have abused a banned substance, Boldenone.
Boldenone is an anabolic androgenic steroid and synthetic derivative of testosterone that was originally developed for veterinary use but has since become one of the more common performance-enhancing drugs that athletes test positive for in sports.
Sample collection
He was provisionally suspended from March this year until a decision is delivered in his case. However, no decision about his case has been delivered and a sanction is yet to be imposed.
On the other hand, Isuza was not tested and thus charged with refusing to submit to sample collection without a compelling justification after notification by a duly authorized person as per Article 2.3 of the World Anti-Doping Code 2021.
For this offence, he was slapped with a penalty of four years of ineligibility from September last year to September 2025.
Speaking exclusively to People Sport, ADAK Head of Corporation and Legal Services, Bildad Rogoncho stated that because of the severity of the cases, the two players had to be represented by lawyers after being informed of their misgivings.
“The two football players, their clubs and their federation were notified of their Anti-Doping Rule Violations, legal representation was accorded to them, and their legal counsels filed their respective defences in their cases. Article eight of the Anti-Doping Act provides for a right to a fair hearing and the Sports Disputes Tribunal has jurisdiction in the case of National and County level athletes to hear both the first instance and their appeal.”
Sports Lawyer Sarah Ochwada, has warned that the accused duo must have proper grounds for appeal mechanisms since the threshold of defence is high.
