Former senior Kenyan athletics official David Okeyo has been banned from the sport for life and fined Sh5 million by the IAAF.
Okeyo, who doubles up as a former Secretary-General and Vice President of Athletics Kenya (AK) while also being a member of the IAAF Council, together with Joseph Kinyua, a former Treasurer of Athletics Kenya, were investigated by the sport’s ethics board in relation to payments made by U.S. sportswear company Nike between 2003 and 2015.
The 74-page judgement released on Thursday claimed the Board found there were countless times when Okeyo did not disclose to AK the withdrawals of the Nike money he made from AK bank accounts and he could also not show any evidence of what the money had been used for.
As a result he was found to have breached the ethics code on 10 occasions after taking sponsorship money that “could have been better directed to support the development of the sport of athletics in Kenya” and expelled him from his position on the IAAF Council.
Okeyo was ordered to pay the Sh5 million ($50,000) fine to AK.
Kinyua was found by the board to have “engaged in similar conduct” but as he was not an IAAF official at the time, it was deemed that he was not bound by the ethics rules in place at the time and hence he escaped sanction.
The two men, along with former AK President Isaiah Kiplagat, were provisionally suspended at the end of 2015. Kiplagat has since died and consequently the ethics board dropped its investigation into his activities.
Okeyo and Kinyua deny wrongdoing, saying that the money was legitimate payment for their own expenses and expertise and for payments they personally made to athletes.
Kinyua told Reuters on Thursday that he was happy with the decision and that “justice was done.”
Speaking to Reuters, Okeyo said “Yes, I have read the decision of the Athletics Integrity Unit and my lawyers will advise me on the next course of action.”