African star athlete Kipsiro calls for tougher action against drug cheats

Uganda's star runner Moses Kipsiro has called for severer punishments against drug cheats in order to encourage fair competition in international athletics.

   "We do not want to run with robots because they are using drugs. They need very tough punishments so that others don't even ever think of using drugs," Kipsiro said on Wednesday.

   This comes after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) panel revealed a report involving allegations of extortion and cover ups involving Russian doping.

   WADA on Monday accused the Russia of complicity in widespread doping and cover ups by its track and field athletes and said they should all be banned from competition.

   Kipsiro, triple Commonwealth Games gold medal winner, said although he is not aware of issues surrounding the doping scandal with Russia, he thinks it is time to get rid of drug cheats in athletics.

   Besides Russia, African powerhouse Kenya have also been under the spotlight with allegations that some of their athletes are also using drugs.

   Two Kenyan athletes Koki Manunga and Joyce Zakary were banned in August after failing doping tests at the World Championships in China.  Endi