© Copyright – 2016 – Athletics Illustrated

If Somalian athletics Coach Jama Aden was indeed caught with and arrested for being in possession of performance enhancing drugs for the purpose of injecting or supplying athletes, he should be banned for life from the sport of athletics.

According to various media he was indeed arrested in a hotel room in Sabadell, Spain, which is just north of Barcelona. Apparently he was under a month-long, 24-hour surveillance.

If the language within the laws that preside within the governing bodies will allow and if the above is true, there should be no appeals permitted and his athletes should also be banned from competing in the sport. If any of his athletes have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in the past, that are implicated in this particular bust and test positive again, they too should also be banned for life.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) – the world-wide governing body was aware of Aden’s illegal activity as far back as 2013. Two of his athletes have been suspended in the past, they are Laila Traby of France and Hamza Driouch of Qatar, from 2015 for Athlete Biological Passport anomalies.

The IAAF and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) need to demonstrate that they are serious about cleaning up the sport. The sport does not need another leaked document implicating the IAAF in hiding positive drug tests. The remaining fans won’t have it, nor should the sponsors.

Heavy scrutiny should be paid to the Dibaba sisters.

Innocent until proven guilty is Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia, a highly decorated international athlete who in April of 2015 ran the 1500-metre distance event in a time that is so fast, she bettered a world record that was so drug-aided it was believed to never be eclipsed. The former world record performance from 1993 should also be cleared from the record books. Dibaba ran 3:50.07. China’s Qu Yunxia, as a member of Ma’s Army, held the record for 22 years at 3:50.46.

Six of the fastest nine times are held by Ma’s Army athletes.

Yunxia’s teammate Wang Junxia wrote a letter to a Chinese newspaper saying that Coach Junren made her take PEDs. He was later fired by Chinese authorities after six of his athletes failed drug tests – hence the name Ma’s Army.

Dibaba ran the 5,000m race distance in the time of 14:15.41 in April of 2015. Her sister Tirunesh owns the world record of 14:11.15 from 2008. Both have ties to Aden.

Dibaba isn’t suspected of simply being guilty by association; she was apparently – along with up to 25 other athletes, including at least one of her sisters – in the very hotel room that Aden was in, when he was busted during the raid. Spanish police apparently raided six rooms.

The Spanish authorities had been monitoring Aden 24 hours per day and were prepared to test his athletes during the raid. Apparently all but two athletes were tested for drugs.

The results from those drug tests better become public information. Apparently they will be available Friday.

If Dibaba and any of the others test positive, all of their records and international medals should be removed from the record books. Prize money should be sought, as should endorsement earnings. Additionally, medals awared from international competitions should be returned and the next athletes should be moved up. If not, the IAAF and or WADA will have failed the supporters of the sport.

Read a full and detailed report here at Let’s Run>>

Here is a list of athletes apparently directly and indirectly associated with Aden.

David Torrence left the group due to concern of Aden suggesting Torrence take “vitamins”.

Mo Farah has distanced himself from the coach and group and has never officially been implicated for any reason to do with Aden, other than attending workouts or a single workout with his group. Farah’s listed coaches do not include Aden at any time.

First name Last name Country Distance Comments
Abubaker Abdalla Qatar 400m/800m
Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla Qatar 800m Arab/Asian multi-champ
Amine Benferar Algeria 800m
Abdi Bile Somalia MD World champs – gold
Ejegayehu Dibaba Ethiopia 10,000m Athens Olympic silver
Genzebe Dibaba Ethiopia 1500m World record
Tirunesh Dibaba Ethiopia 5,000m World record
Hamza Driouch Qatar MD Suspended for ABP anomolies
Mo Farah UK 10,000m Olympic Gold/World Champ
Abdalelah Haroun Qatar Sprints World record 500m – indoors
Ismael Ahmed Ismael Sudan 800m 2008 Beijing Olympics – silver
Ibrahim Jeilan Ethiopia 10,000m World Champ
Abukaker Kaki Khamis Sudan 800m World champs – silver
Taoufik Makhloufi Algeria 1500m 2012 Olympic Gold
Said Aden Said Qatar 1500m
Ayanleh Souleiman Djibouti 800/1500m World Champ multi-medallist
David Torrence US/Peru MD Left group
Laila Traby France 10,000m Suspended for ABP anomolies/Euro bronze