Suspended Kenyan sports figure dies amid bribery probe

By Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – A high-profile Kenyan sports administrator embroiled in a bribery and corruption scandal died on Wednesday after a long illness.

Isaiah Kiplagat, 72, the long-serving former Athletics Kenya president, had been suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)’s ethics board.

Kiplagat had served as chair of Athletics Kenya’s board for over three decades. Together with two other senior officials, Kiplagat was suspended by the IAAF in November last year.

A statement from IAAF’s Tom Mountford, legal secretary to IAAF’s Ethics Commission, noted that on top of the corruption allegations the three were to be investigated for “alleged subversion of the anti-doping control process in Kenya and funds embezzlement”.

The trio were said to have received money exceeding $690,000 in corruption deals from top world sportswear companies.

The death of Kiplagat comes days after Kenyan Olympic team manager Michael Rotich was recalled over doping bribery allegations at the Rio Olympics. Rotich was later arrested upon landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.