IAAF has banned and fined former Athletics Kenya (AK) vice president David Okeyo for life from engaging in any athletics sports.
Apart from suffering the big blow from the ban, Okeyo has been orderd to pay Kshs. 15 million after he was found guilty by IAAF Athics Board for diverting federatoion funds for personal gains
The three-person IAAF Ethics Board that heard and determined the case following investigations led by Sharad Rao acquitted suspended AK Treasurer, Joseph Kinyua stating he was not covered under the 2003 Code of Ethics that prosecuted Okeyo.
Another separate case involving AK CEO, Isaac Mwangi, who was forced to step aside from his role following allegations he solicited monies from athletes who tested positive for banned substances in a view of clearing or reducing their bans is still in progress according to the 74-page Ethics Board judgment.
Charges against the late AK President, Isaiah Kiplagat, were dropped after he passed away in August 2016 in a sequence of cases that rocked the administration of the most-successful sporting federation in Kenya and sparked the inglorious end to the 22-year tenure at the helm of the federation by the former with his trusted lieutenants, Okeyo and Kinyua going down with him.
Okeyo has been ordered to pay IAAF Sh10mn and AK Sh5mn within 90 days by the panel of Board Catherine M.E O’Regan (chairperson) Kevan Gosper and Annabel Pennefather.
He was charged alongside Kinyua and Kiplagat with diverting funds from American sports apparel manufacturer, Nike to their pockets, a charge that the long-serving official who was had been elected to the supreme IAAF decision-making organ, the Council, before he was suspended denied.
“Mr Okeyo should be expelled from his office as a member of the IAAF Council and banned for life from taking or holding any office in the sport or taking part in any Athletics-related activity. The Panel imposes this ban with effect from the date of this decision.
“The Panel notes that Mr Okeyo has been found to have committed breaches of the Code on ten occasions over a long period of time
“Moreover, the effect of his conduct was to deprive Athletics Kenya of income from its sponsor that could have been better directed to support the development of the sport of athletics in Kenya,” the Board ruling read in part.
“In the view of the Panel the pattern of conduct warrants serious sanction to establish the firm principle that federation officials must act scrupulously and transparently in managing the finances of their federations in order to protect the name and reputation of the sport of athletics,” it added on Okeyo who prior to the 2015 elections, served as the head of the IAAF Cross Country Commission.