The Athletics Integrity Unit has apologised to Kenyan 100m sprinter Mark Otieno for wrongly accusing him.
The AIU had posted on their website that the Kenyan sprinter was charged with tampering with his samples.
In August 2021, Mark Otieno had been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for allegedly violating anti-doping rules.
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"Information posted recently on the Athletics Integrity Unit's website and its Twitter account erroneously stated that Mark Otieno Odhiambo was charged with Tampering.
“The AIU apologises for this error and confirms that Mr. Odhiambo's case only concerns the Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance. That case is currently before the Disciplinary Tribunal and no further comment will be made whilst the matter is pending,” the AIU statement read.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) is an independent body created by World Athletics that manages all issues of integrity - both doping and non-doping - for athletics.
AIU's responsibilities include anti-doping, the pursuit of individuals engaged in age or competition results manipulation, investigating fraudulent behaviour with regards to transfers of allegiance and detecting other misconduct including bribery and breaches of betting rules.
In a past interview Otieno, who is serving a three-year ban, appealed for lesser punishment from AIU compared to the standard four-year ban.
The 29-year-old was withdrawn from Kenya's Olympics team two hours before the men’s 100m heats after AIU claimed that the samples collected from the athlete tested positive for the prohibited substance Methasterone, ranked among the Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS).
Also Read: Sprinter Mark Otieno Suspended by AIU for Alleged Doping