IAAF Council member David Okeyo banned for life over fund misuse

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Thursday expelled Athletics Kenya (AK) vice president David Okeyo from his office as a member of the IAAF Council and banned for life from the sport over sponsorship fund misused, the IAAF statement said.

The official announcement was made by the IAAF ethics board after former Treasurer of AK, Okeyo was being found guilty for his role in diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars of sponsorship fund from Nike for his personal use.

In a 74-page statement released on Thursday, the board found Okeyo to have committed breaches of the Code of ethics on ten occasions over a long period of time.

Okeyo did not disclose to the Athletics Kenya the Nike money he had withdrawn from AK’s bank accounts and thus, he was ordered to pay $50,000 fine to AK within 90 days, said IAAF official.

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The Penal notes that the levying of this fine should be without prejudice to the right of Athletics Kenya to pursue any civil remedies it may have.

Okeyo was also ordered to pay another $100,000 in legal costs.

Okeyo was accused alongside two other officials, former Athletics Kenya president and former IAAF Council member Isaiah Kiplagat, and former AK treasurer Joseph Kinyua.

Kiplagat died in 2016. Kinyua was also found to be involved in diverting money meant for Athletics Kenya to a “clearance account” for the men’s personal use but was not bound by the IAAF ethics code at the time and escaped punishment.

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Okeyo has also been charged separately with extorting money from athletes. However, the IAAF hasn’t published its findings on that charge.

(With inputs from agencies)