Qatar's Saif Saaeed Shaheen (left) runs ahead of Kenya's Paul Kipsiele Koech in the 3,000 metres steeplechase event at the IAAF World Cup athletics tournament in Athens last September. Shaheen is former Kenyan Stephen Cherono. - Reuters

NAIROBI (Reuters):

Politically naive Kenyan runners who defect to Gulf states for money risk encountering serious problems, observers say.

More than 40 Kenyan athletes, many unable to win selection in their country where competition is high, have gone to other countries in search of better pay, often defecting to rich Gulf states with better training facilities.

Last week, however, road racer Leonard Mucheru was deported from his adopted country, Bahrain, after participating in a marathon race in Israel which has no diplomatic ties with the Gulf state.

Many of those making the move abroad were too young to grasp political issues outside Kenya, said Colm O'Connell, a long-time coach in the east African country.

"They should be taken through thorough orientation to know the legal, social and political issues involved in their adopted environments," O'Connell, an Irish lay preacher who coaches many top-class athletes, told Reuters.

His views were supported by three-time world 3,000m steeplechase champion, Moses Kiptanui.

"These runners just defect for the money, yet their little education does not make them understand the world in which they are running," Kiptanui said.

Mucheru, renamed Mushir Salem Jawher, had his citizenship revoked by Bahrain last week after he ran in and won the Tiberias Marathon in Israel, becoming the first athlete from Bahrain to run in Israel.

CAREFUL STUDY

Bahrain Athletics Association officials reacted with anger, saying they were shocked that a citizen of their country would take part in a sporting event in Israel.

Mucheru said he had been unaware that he was the first Bahrain athlete to compete in Israel.

Most Arab countries ban their athletes from taking part in sports events in Israel.

Kenya's sports minister Maina Kamanda said Mucheru had shamed his native country, adding that the case showed that defecting athletes needed to study their new contracts carefully.

"It is clear that he acted inappropriately and misbehaved. It did not go down well for the image of our country," Kamanda told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"He should have adhered to the agreements he entered into with the Bahrain government when he became a citizen of that country.

"The other point is if those people were genuine, they should have tried him there. He is their citizen," Kamanda added.

The minister urged world athletic authorities to review the rules governing changes of nationality.

"The idea to change nationality to win medals for another country is wrong and should be discouraged," he said.

"It looks bad for an athlete to defect to another country just to make that country famous by winning medals for it, yet they don't understand their culture, and, worse, they developed that talent in another country."

FINANCIAL REWARDS

The minister said Mucheru faced further action because he had not surrendered his passport when he defected as required under Kenyan law.

Kamanda said the government of President Mwai Kibaki had in the last year introduced a scheme for financially rewarding runners.

"We now pay 500,000 Kenya shillings (US$7,189) for gold medallists. They are now more motivated," said Kamanda.

Kenyan athletes have been trailing their African neighbours Ethiopia in global competitions in recent years, with analysts blaming the aggressive pursuit of prize money on the lucrative European circuit for the disappointing showing.

Runners who move to Gulf states can reap big rewards.

Double world steeplechase champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen, formerly Stephen Cherono, emigrated to Qatar in 2003 for a package including a US$1,000 monthly stipend for life.

He fell foul of the Kenyan authorities last September when he was detained for 15 hours at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi for trying to enter the country without the correct visa.

Kiptanui said athletes should not just chase money without realising the implications.

"We live in a complicated world and an athlete should be able to understand issues to do with volatile politics not just in the Middle East but all over the world," he said.