Athletes from Kenya, Nigeria and Jamaica have functions rejected for ‘recruitment drive’ by Turkiye authorities.
Revealed On 17 Apr 2026
A World Athletics panel has refused 11 allegiance switch requests to Turkiye over what it referred to as a “coordinated recruitment technique” by the Turkish authorities to draw abroad athletes with profitable contracts, the game’s governing physique has stated.
The requests got here from 5 Kenyan athletes, together with former ladies’s marathon world file holder Brigid Kosgei, and 4 Jamaicans, together with Olympic discus gold medallist Roje Stona and Olympic shot put bronze medallist Rajindra Campbell.
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Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili and Russian heptathlete Sophia Yakushina have been the opposite two requests.
The World Athletics Nationality Overview Panel stated it thought-about that approval of those functions would compromise eligibility guidelines and switch of allegiance rules.
“The panel discovered that the functions shaped a part of a coordinated recruitment technique led by the Turkiye authorities performing via a wholly-owned and financed authorities membership, to draw abroad athletes via profitable contracts,” World Athletics stated in a press release.
“With the intention of facilitating transfers of allegiance and enabling these athletes to signify Turkiye at future worldwide competitions, together with the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Video games.”
World Athletics’ switch of allegiance rules embrace standards geared toward making certain a real connection between the athlete and the nation they signify and to guard the integrity, credibility and growth of the game globally.
The foundations have been tightened in 2019, with World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe saying some instances of younger athletes switching allegiance have been akin to human trafficking.
Turkiye’s group on the 2016 European Championships featured seven athletes from Kenya, two from Jamaica, an Ethiopian, a Cuban, a Ukrainian, a South African and an Azerbaijani.
Ramil Guliyev, representing Turkiye after switching allegiance from Azerbaijan, gained the 200 metres gold on the 2017 World Championships.
Qatar has additionally used monetary incentives to draw international athletes resembling Egypt-born weightlifter Fares Ibrahim Hassouna who gained Qatar’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in 2021.
Winfred Yavi switched allegiance from Kenya to Bahrain on the age of 15, occurring to win Olympic and world gold medals within the 3,000-metre steeplechase.
World Athletics stated its refusal to grant the allegiance switch requests doesn’t forestall the 11 athletes from competing in one-day conferences or highway races in a private or membership capability or from residing and coaching in Turkiye.
