RIO DE JANEIRO -- Once again, questions are swirling about Kenyan runners and doping, this time at the biggest event of all: the Olympics.Kenya said Sunday it would send its track and field manager home from the Rio de Janeiro Games on the first available flight and show no mercy following newspaper allegations that he told undercover reporters posing as coaches that he could protect doping athletes from drug tests in exchange for a pay-off.The Kenyan governments secretary for sports, Hassan Wario, said Michael Rotich would face a police investigation.He must go home now. We will have no mercy on anyone who is suspected of doping, Wario said.In a separate statement, however, Wario also said the allegations were ill-timed and that their veracity is dubious.The Sunday Times newspaper in London said Rotich was secretly filmed offering to protect cheating athletes from drug-testing authorities. It said he offered to provide advance warning of doping tests in return for a 10,000 pound ($13,000) bribe during an undercover investigation by the newspaper.International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said Kenya feels that Rotichs continued presence at the games would be distracting.They are clearly very serious allegations, he said. The IOC would like to see the actual evidence, evidence either of malpractice or if actually this person could actually deliver what he was claiming he could deliver.Athletes arent meant to be tipped-off in advance of tests, to ensure that they dont try to avoid them or manipulate their samples to appear clean. Rotich, a track and field official in Kenyas Rift Valley region that produces the bulk of the nations long-distance runners, isnt meant to be in the loop about who will be tested and when. However, the Sunday Times quoted Rotich as telling undercover reporters that he had ways and means of finding out.The Associated Press reached Rotich via WhatsApp on Sunday.I am not able to talk to you right now, he messaged.He said he would do so later but then stopped responding to follow-up questions.The World Anti-Doping Agency urged Kenyan anti-doping authorities to investigate the allegations. Kenya, a distance-running power, has 47 athletes entered in track and field.Adams said theyve probably been tested more in the past two years, with 848 tests by tracks governing body, more than any other team.I dont think there can have been a stronger testing program of athletes, he said.---Associated Press writer Mutwiri Mutuota in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report. Air Max 97 Pas Cher France . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. Fausse Air Max 97 Pas Cher .2 billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the leagues broadcast and multimedia rights. http://www.airmaxpaschervente.fr/destockage-balenciaga-france.html .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. Fausse Air Max 95 Pas Cher . "We have always prided ourselves on the way we play defence. Having two big pieces back is going to be a key for us moving forward for years to come," said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. Air Max Fausse . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.LOS ANGELES -- Raffi Torres spent the past year in Phoenix and San Jose trying to shake his reputation as a dangerous player. His hit on Los Angeles centre Jarret Stoll might have erased much of that work and put both players post-season futures in doubt. Stoll is likely to miss Game 2 of the Kings second-round playoff series against the Sharks on Thursday night. The valuable two-way forward didnt return to the series opener after a hard hit from Torres late in the second period of Los Angeles 2-0 victory. Kings coach Darryl Sutter implied Wednesday that Stoll could be out for a significant length of time. Torres also might be sidelined for a stretch after he travels to New York for a disciplinary hearing Thursday with the NHLs Department of Player Safety, which suspended him until the hearing is completed. "I thought it was careless," Sutter said of Torres hit, which occurred near the sideboards after the puck rolled away from Stoll. A lengthy suspension wouldnt make Sutter feel any better about Torres play, either: "Our player is quite a bit more important than theirs." During the defending Stanley Cup champions 2-0 victory over the Sharks, Stoll was bent forward when Torres approached him from the side for a shoulder-to-shoulder hit. Stolls head also snapped back violently before he fell forward onto the ice. Torres was called for a minor penalty for charging, and Stoll didnt return to the game. Most of the Kings declined to weigh in on the hits legality after Wednesdays light practice, claiming they hadnt seen replays. Stoll attended the Kings team meeting before practice, but wasnt on the ice. The Sharks had much stronger opinions about the play: Torres, captain Joe Thornton and coach Todd McLellan all said the hit was perfectly legal, and shouldnt even have resulted in San Joses only penalty in Game 1. "We questioned the call of a charging penalty," Thornton said. "So we were kind of shocked to hear he has to fly to New York for the hearing, because we didnt see anything wrong on the play. ... Its unfortunate that Raffi has to go through this again." Further complicating matters, Stoll and Torres are friends after three seasons as teammates with the Edmonton Oilers from 2005-08. The Kings would lose plenty without Stoll, a stalwart on their championship team last summer. Stoll is their third-line centre and a top penalty-killer and faceoff specialist, playing a valuable two-way game while also logging time on the power play. Although he doesnt score many points, getting just one assist in seven playoff games this spring, Stoll scored the series-winning goal in last seasons upset of top-seedded Vancouver in the first round on the way to the title.dddddddddddd He also has a history of apparent concussions earlier in his career. "Hes a big loss, one of our most valuable guys," Kings defenceman Drew Doughty said. "Everybody else will have to step up if we want to keep going forward." Torres absence isnt likely to affect the Sharks offensive efforts against goalie Jonathan Quick, who shut them out on 35 shots in the series opener. But Stolls absence on defence changes the mix for Los Angeles, which must entrust additional ice time to role players without one of its leaders. Brad Richardson, who played 13 games during the Kings championship playoff run, is likely to replace Stoll in the lineup for Game 2. Richardson hasnt played in this post-season since Game 1 of the Kings first-round series with St. Louis. "Its huge, because hes one of our clutch players," Richardson said of Stoll. "Hes the first guy on the penalty kill, and hes a power-play guy." Even if it is deemed legal, the hit ignites another round of trouble for Torres, the journeyman forward whose ugly reputation has surfaced again. While playing for Phoenix last season, Torres received a 21-game suspension -- initially 25 games -- for a high hit on Chicago star Marian Hossa in the first round of the playoffs. That play cemented Torres identity as a cheap shot artist and dangerous player in many NHL minds. But the former No. 5 overall draft pick insists he has cleaned up his game during a season of largely trouble-free play with San Jose, his sixth team in six seasons. "If he is going to miss some games, were going to miss him," said Sharks forward Logan Couture, who thought the hit was clean from his on-ice viewpoint. "But its an opportunity for other guys to step up the physical play and try to take over his role. Were going to support Raffi, and whatever happens, happens." Kings forward Dustin Penner thought Torres hit was objectionable mostly because it was unnecessary. He sees little comparison to the hit by Ottawas Eric Gryba on Montreal centre Lars Eller in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, resulting in a two-game suspension for a blow that left Eller with a concussion and a broken nose. Eller didnt return to the series as the Senators advanced. "I think that hit (in Ottawa) was fine," Penner said. "I know some people dont, but its a split-second decision. You guys can slow it down to .001 milliseconds, but hes got to make that hit, and this one (by Torres), he probably didnt need to make that hit. Thats where I see the difference." ' ' '
