The Ethiopian anti-doping office Thursday announced the exclusion of two athletes from upcoming athletics competition for doping.
In a statement the office said Ethiopian athletes Wondesen Ketema and Eyob Habteselassie have been banned from any athletics competition after they were tested positive for use of cathinone.
The office said they had been banned from any running for four and eight years respectively in a row. Wondesen who was banned until 2028 was accused of disrupting investigation processes.
With world athletics slowly resuming amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Ethiopia has launched doping testing on its athletes. More than 250 elite athletes have so far been tested in partnership with the world athletics integrity unit.
The country is backing World Athletics’ (WA) new testing programme targeting top road runners in marathon, half-marathon, and long distances, the office said
Back in 2016, three Ethiopian runners were suspended on suspicion of doping amid a string of positive tests among the country’s athletes, track and field.
MG/abj/APA