Athletics bosses must end cases of victimisation

The so called renegades have started feeling the pinch for their hard-line stance against Athletics Kenya, but is this the way to go?

Being an insider, I know the loyalists are having a ball as goodies continue to go their way.

A case in point is the just concluded national cross country meeting two weeks ago, where officials accompanying the team were selected on the basis on their loyalty and not because they can deliver.

Yes! Officials who have stood firm and pointed out mistakes at Riadha House were openly side-lined irrespective of their abilities to handle certain jobs within the team.

I am told this trend is set to continue and will no doubt spill into the organisation of the 2017 World Youth Championships.

I am also reliably informed that apart from the government appointments, current AK officials who are in the right books have started aligning themselves for the top jobs in the organisation of the youth event.

This is also happening with the local relay series, which will culminate in the World Relays Championships in Bahamas in May.

It is an open secret that those accompanying the team are not your usual coaches who have always delivered results with the team but "pretenders to the throne".

OUT OF FAVOUR

Coaches have in fact been subjected to the same punishment with renegades and they are bearing the brunt of siding with the opposition.

In any case, for a coach to be selected into the national team depends on who you associate with.

Soon, and I pray it doesn’t happen, athletes who belong to different stables may also find themselves out of favour.

In fact, I foresee a situation where, an athlete’s camp will be a criteria for qualification.

Personally, I think this is quite bizarre considering that we are all stakeholders and we need to serve athletics so long as one is qualified.

AK needs to realize that athletics belongs to all of us and not just some individuals.

Sadly, there are some hawkish individuals who will go to any length to bring down the sport by clinging to power at any cost. But in the end, the buck stops with the AK leadership.

We need to draw a line between the sport and politics if we are to maintain our high standards and move forward — otherwise we risk sliding further down if these kind of scenarios persist.

Even in governance, we have politics but programmes will always continue — after all there is time for everything.

I fear for the athletes because they stand to suffer the most from problems that are not of their making.

Instead of the administration busying itself with spying on the "renegades", they should concentrate on cleaning the sport that has lately been tainted with issues to do with doping by disbanding the anti doping committee which seems to have escaped the radar.

It is going to be difficult for the federation to pull together when victimization is rife. Now is the time to put our act together.