Posted: March 8, 2005

Athletics: Global Sports & London Marathon Deny Any Influence In Chepkemei Reinstatement

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

Global Sports Communications, the Dutch athlete management firm, and David Bedford, director of the Flora London Marathon, vehemently denied any role in the reinstatment of Susan Chepkemei, the Kenyan distance runner who was recently banned by Athletics Kenya for not appearing at a national training camp only to be reinstated several days later.

Michele Boeting of Global Sports Communications took issue with the suggestion by another athlete manager, who spoke with RRW on condition of anonymity, that Athletics Kenya may have taken a financial payment or other inducement from either his firm or the Flora London Marathon to get the athlete reinstated.

"Susan has presented herself before and after Puerto Rico to the AK-officials and decided to lift the ban," wrote Boeting in an e-mail message to RRW. Chepkemei had been in Puerto Rico for the World's Best 10-K instead of at the Athletics Kenya training camp preparing for the IAAF World Cross Country championships. "No money was involved, just proper communication and understanding from both sides after all. Neither us nor London communicated directly with the federation on this issue."

The Associated Press reported last week that Chepkemei was reinstated after delivering an apology.

In a separate e-mail message to RRW, Bedford said: "Just for the record, neither I nor any London marathon representative had any conversations with the KAAA. I am a colleague of David Okeyo on the IAAF Road and Cross Country Committee and I am sure they will be upset with this allegation."

All athletes compete under the auspices of their national federations, and these federations have wide-ranging powers to control athlete actions. If a federation bans an athlete, events operating under the auspices of any other IAAF member federations are expected to honor the ban.

Boeting also felt that by mentioning the manager's suggestion that there had been some inappropriate intervention by his firm or the Flora London Marathon, RRW had given credence to a rumor. "I am really shocked to read that RRW go by rumours spread by an anonymous manager that AK was paid by either London Marathon or GSC to revise their decision on the banning of Susan Chepkemei," Boeting wrote. "I don't think that both London Marathon or us deserve a treatment like that. We are both respected in the business and I hope that RRW will stay far from those kind of speculations in the future."

To be clear, RRW reported that another athlete manager, one with several decades of experience dealing with the Kenyan federation, "suspected that Athletics Kenya had been paid to reverse their decision." A suspicion is not an allegation, and RRW did not in any way mean to impune the credibility of Global Sports Communications or the Flora London Marathon. The comment of the other manager was reported to lend context to the situation and help underscore the sometimes difficult problems which athletes, managers and events sometimes face dealing with federations --Ed.