NEXT MONTH'S World Cross Country Championships in South Africa could be deprived of some to athletes because of funding cuts by the Kenyan government. The Kenya National Sports Council (KNSC) announced yesterday they would not sponsor any national teams before this year's Olympics, provoking a threat by the nation's athletics boss to pull out of the championships in Cape Town on March 23rd.
The council said in a statement "There will be no government funding for any national teams before the Atlanta engagements." Kenya Amateur Athletics Association chairman Isaiah Kiplagat responded by saying "If we are included in the KNSC directive, we shall withdraw from the World Cross Country Championships. We may also cancel the national trials that lead to the championships.
"There is no point in going through the trials process if we are not going to send a team to the championships anyway. The whole process would be futile."
Former world champion John Ngugi is planning to make his top level return in South Africa now that a ban, imposed by the International Amateur Athletics Federation for refusing a random dope test, has been lifted.
Compatriot Paul Tergat, the reigning world champion, has said he wants his second world title there.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)