Kenya’s athletics reputation faces yet another scandal as age cheating emerges as a lucrative black-market business, with parents allegedly paying up to Sh100,000 to falsify birth records for their gifted children.

With the growing demand for scholarships in foreign schools, coaches, parents as well as corrupt officials are colluding to manipulate documents, allowing ineligible athletes to compete in junior categories.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) and Athletics Kenya have flagged at least 30 cases, with investigations now widening amid fears that the scandal could rival the country’s ongoing doping crisis.

In recent years, educational scholarships have been the primary driver of age cheating, as some institutions abroad impose strict age limits for admission based on athletic talent.

Coaches involved in the scheme persuade parents to obtain falsified documents that reduce their child’s age to meet the eligibility criteria set by these schools.

It has been revealed that some Kenyan athletes possess as many as three different birth certificates.

Age cheating is not a new phenomenon in the country. Coaches note that it began when nations started valuing success in major competitions as a source of national prestige.

In 2006, Kenyan junior athlete Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa was accused of age cheating.

His arrest, which was captured by journalists, took place during a flag handover ceremony presided over by then-Sports Minister Maina Kamanda. The national junior athletics team was set to depart for the World Championships in Beijing, China.

Kamanda, waving letters from the Immigration Department, revealed that Longosiwa had two passports issued using different birth certificates, listing his birth years as 1982 and 1988.

As a result, Longosiwa was dropped from the Beijing-bound junior squad. Kamanda stated that Longosiwa was already a police officer, making it “impossible that they would recruit a junior.”

In the 1990s, fabled coach Brother Colm O’Connell raised similar concerns, questioning why athletes already enlisted in the disciplined forces were competing as juniors.

The problem has since escalated, drawing the attention of World Athletics and the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), as well as the Kenyan government.

Recently, Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya pledged government support in tackling age cheating among Kenyan athletes.

“Age cheating is a stain on Kenya’s reputation as an athletics giant and must be eradicated from the sport’s fabric,” said the CS.

“The issue of falsifying age is something we must eliminate so Kenya can maintain its status as a global athletics powerhouse,” he added.

Athletics Kenya (AK) president Jack Tuwei raised the alarm in July 2023, highlighting the rising cases of age manipulation.

He noted a concerning trend where athletes submit forged identification documents when registering for competitions, particularly in age-restricted events.

“We have been focusing on doping, which has spiraled out of control, but age cheating is becoming a new challenge,” Tuwei said at the time.

The AIU is now leading investigations in collaboration with Athletics Kenya, which has identified 30 potential cases of athletes altering their birth records to compete for Kenya in various Under-20 World Athletics Championships.

Age cheating occurs when an athlete manipulates their birth records to appear younger, gaining both competitive and financial advantages.

At the 2023 U20 World Athletics Championships in Peru, Kenya was forced to send home four distance runners found to have falsified their birth records. Unlike doping, age cheating involves collusion between athletes, parents, coaches, and even birth registration officials, who manipulate records to benefit the athlete.

Athletics Kenya has confirmed that it has already forwarded the names of several athletes; including Olympic participants and the four runners dropped from Team Kenya for the U20 World Championships in Peru last year; to the AIU for further scrutiny over age cheating allegations.