Athletics
'Defections killing our sport'
2010-04-02 16:21
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Kenya - World and Olympic finals risk turning into 'Kenyan championships' if the defection of athletes to other nations is not stopped, Olympic 800 metres champion Wilfred Bungei said on Friday.
"This is what will kill global athletics. The defection of athletes from some nations, especially Kenya, to Qatar, Bahrain, United States, Finland, France etc," the Kenyan told reporters at a seminar in Nakuru.
"You will soon find 12 Kenyans in the final of 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m or 10,000m in the Olympic Games or world championships. So that will be a Kenyan championships, not Olympics or world championships. And who is interested in that situation?
"This movement of athletes is portraying our sport very, very badly. Something ought to be done to curb these defections."
Many Kenyan athletes have defected to Gulf states to seek better training opportunities, earn more money and avoid punishing qualifying trials in an east African nation that has dominated middle and long distance running for decades.
Bungei said the development of world athletics had also been damaged by last year's decision by global athletics chiefs to make the world cross country championships a biennial event instead of an annual one.
He said the move was driven by jealousy of African athletes' success on the global scene.
"They don't like the fact that Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes dominate cross country. They don't like to see us winning races and bringing to our continent the prize money," said Bungei.
"They may even make it quadrennial. What shall our athletes do in the intervening period? I urge African sports leaders to organise annual cross country to keep our athletes busy before the track season and (enable them to) earn a living," he said.
"Why can't we see major races organised in Nairobi, South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria and Algeria? They should stop over-relying on European races to keep in shape or earn a living."
Bungei, a former world indoor 800m champion, has stopped running at championships, saying he would be running only at selected invitational meetings.