Kenyan police raided the country's Olympic headquarters Saturday probing a corruption scam that saw some of the nations' athletes deprived of team uniforms at the Rio Games. Three top Olympic officials have already been arrested in the investigation, and the raid turned up dozens of boxes containing uniforms provided by sports goods manufacturer NIKE that were destined to be worn by athletes at the Rio opening ceremony. "The raid was conducted this morning and several dozens of cartons with the sports kits have been recovered," a police source told AFP.
"The investigation is centered on the misappropriation of Sports kits donated by NIKE... and not given to the athletes." The Olympic opening ceremony provides an occasion for delegations from all competing nations to march proudly in smart uniforms into the main Olympic stadium.
But at the Rio opening ceremony, the Kenyan team wore a mismatch of outfits because a number of delegates never got the official uniform. Police earlier announced the arrest on Friday of Francis Paul, secretary-general of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK), his deputy James Chicha and Stephen Ara Sou, who headed the Kenyan delegation to Rio.
The three are implicated in the uniform scam and also face allegations of mismanagement of Kenya's Rio delegation. The latest allegations come on the heals of a major drugs scandal that has dogged Kenyan athletics for years and resulted in dozens of competitors receiving lengthy bans. The three officials, held at a police station in northeastern Nairobi, are due to be charged on Monday for theft of official sports gear as well as mismanagement, a police source said.
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