Athletics agent to appear in court

Federico Rosa, an Italian national attached to athletics management company Rosa and Associati, will appear in court on Wednesday to face unspecified charges, head of Anti-Narcotics at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Hamisi Masa, has said.

Federico and his father Gabriele Rosa were quizzed at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters in Nairobi on Tuesday. Gabriele was later released.

At the same time, athletics coach Claudio Berardelli, who has previously worked with Rosa and Associati, was also arrested and detained in Eldoret.

Berardelli currently works with Demadonna Athletics, a company owned by Italian Gianni Demadonna.

A police source in Eldoret, who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to speak on such matters, on Tuesday said Berardelli would be brought to Nairobi overnight for interrogation.

Federico was whisked away to Gigiri Police Station to await charges after two days of interrogation at the DCI headquarters but his father, who is also the founder of the athletics management firm, was not detained.

“We have detained one of Rosa and Associati agents but let’s wait until tomorrow morning to know which charges we shall prefer against him and which court,” said Masa.

The two Italians were summoned to DCI headquarters on Monday where they were questioned for over six hours. They were again summoned back on Tuesday at 2.30pm.

“They can’t leave the country for now until we are through with them. I can’t disclose what we are investigating them for since we are yet to know what our officers the ground will come up with. We shall know the charges tomorrow,” said Masa. Rosa and Associati has managed top Kenyan athletes for close to three decades.

Gabriele and Federico arrived in the country for Olympic Trials held Thursday and Friday last week. However, they were not able to attend the trials after they were detained and summoned to DCI headquarters with their passports confiscated.

SUSPENDED LAST YEAR

Rosa and Associati was among athletes agents who were suspended in April last year for six months by Athletics Kenya over doping allegations. The suspension was later revoked in October “for the sake” of the athletes. Nothing has come off the investigations by Athletics Kenya.

It was there after that Berardelli quit the stable to join Demadonna Athletics but Federico claimed to have fired him.

Several of Rosa and Associati athletes have been banned after failing dope tests.

Among their athletes who have doped are marathoner Rita Jeptoo who was suspended in 2014 and Matthew Kisorio, who finished his ban in July last year.

Also to be suspended from the stable last year is 2014 World Relay 4x800m silver medallist Agatha Jeruto. Jeptoo, whose ban is due to end in October this year, has appealed against the ban that came after retaining both her Boston and Chicago Marathon titles in 2014.

The IAAF had also appealed against the ban saying Jeptoo should get four years instead of two. The appeal case comes up for hearing and determination tomorrow in Switzerland.

Among the active athletes in Rosa’s vanguard are World 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop, London Marathon champion Jemimah Sumgong and New York Marathon champion Stanley Biwott.

The trio are in Team Kenya for Rio Olympic Games due August 6 to 21 in Brazil.