Kenya's athletics body and its counterpart in Bahrain are headed for a major confrontation over smuggling of underage runners, informs The Standard.

The Persian Gulf state has already been told to unconditionally release Saad Yusuf Kamel, formerly Gregory Konchellah, fifth in 800m final at Beijing Olympics last year, to represent Kenya in future competitions, including World Championships in Berlin in August, Isaiah Kiplagat, Athletics Kenya chairman, said yesterday.

Konchellah quit a Bahrain training camp in Ethiopia last year, claiming unpaid salaries. He wants Kenyan authorities to reinstate him, but Bahrain hasn't release him.

Five others Saleh Marzooq Bakheet (Simon Mbuthia), Ishaq Isaak Abedeen (Isaack Waweru), Dawood Sultal Khamis (Dominic Kiprono), Majjid Saleh Basheer (Ronald Kipchumba) and Eyad Juma Yaqoob Basheer (Eric Chirchir) have sought AK's help to retrieve their passports from Bahrain in order to become Kenyans again.

"We discussed the issues of the young athletes being taken to the Gulf to represent Bahrain and return to attend schools here without knowing the legal implications about their migration status," Kiplagat, also council member of world athletics governing body IAAF, told FeverPitch.

Kiplagat said, contrary to popular belief, the athletes are only given residency status and not full citizenship.

He was more angry about the issue of gullible school children taken to the Gulf then they return to live normal lives in Kenya.

Isaac Kemboi Chelimo, Edwin Chebii Kimurer, Stephen Kamar and Gladys Cherotich Kibiwot were taken to Bahrain last month and represented the State at the World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan.

"They are taken from schools, spirited to the Gulf and are given passports to run in international competitions. What is their status after that? Are they aliens or still Kenyans?" asked Kiplagat.

A third for Lindy Leveau-Agricole

Javelin specialist Lindy Leveau-Agricole, two-times best Sportslady of the Year, has done well in 2008 to earn herself a third title.

Seychelles organizes a ceremony every year to reward athletes who have done well in sport locally and internationally and who have made the country proud.

Leveau Agricole is well recognized in the region as she has participated in several competitions on the African continent.

She has no challenger at national level in this discipline and so she has to try her best whenever she meets other competitors outside of her native country.

Leveau Agricole is the second female athletes to win the title of the best of the best three times. She equalized the record of Weightlifter Janet Thelermont, who won the title   2002, 2004 and 2006.

She won the title for the first time in 1996  at the  age  of  18 .This was  after  she participated in  the  10^th African Senior Athletics  Championships , held in Douala, in Cameroon. She finished 3^rd with a distance of 42,24 metres  to take the bronze  medal.

She was lucky that year when the second-placed athlete later failed her doping test and so the silver medal was awarded to Leveau-Agricole.

Leveau-Agricole, who is now married, waited 9 more years before earning her second title of best sportslady of the year in 2005.

During that year she won one gold medal at the Jeux de la Francophonie in Nigeria with  a distance  of  53. 92 metres, placing her 125^th worldwide.

In her first participation in the Olympic Games in Beijing , China last  year  she  managed 56, 32 metres, taking 29^th position out of  54  participants.

At the  age  of  30 Leveau Agricole has  already  qualified  for the Jeux de la Francophonie schedule in Beyrouth, Lebanon from 27^th September to 6^th  October .

Pierrette Beauchamp for the CAA

Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, President of the African Athletics Confederation (CAA), has been reelected as President of Cameroon’s Olympic Committee. He received 107 out of 108 votes after challenger (M. Ange Sama who used to be the President of the Cameroon's Athletics Federation) dropped out prior to the vote.

According to the Administrative Director of the Senegalese athletics federation in an online interview with APS, the International Meeting of Dakar previously planned on 18th April at Léopold Senghor stadium has been officially relocated « exceptionally this year » at Iba Mar Diop stadium. « Hardly more than two weeks before the event, there is still no answer to our requests » said Jean Gomis, precising that "the decision was made last Monday at the meeting of the Federation board and the organising committee of the meeting. As we will not take any risks, we preferred to relocate from Léopold Sédar Senghor to Iba Mar Diop where expenses are bearable" he said.

  "As one of the greatest athletics event in Africa, the International Meeting of Dakar benefited from the IAAF label in 2006 with a personal involvement of its President Lamine Diack. If IAAF provides 50,000 USD grant (about 25 millions Francs CFA) for the meeting, the biggest share of the budget estimated at 200 millions Francs CFA comes from the Government grant, the Town Council of Dakar and from sponsoring. As the Government and the Town Council are not reacting so far, we have decided with the IAAF agreement to hold the meeting at Iba Mar Diop stadium" said Jean GOMIS.  

"Besides, one of the leaders of the World Athletics Organisation ( IAAF)  will today be in Dakar in order to better prepare the organisation. The organising committee is very hardly working to make the event more popular and more attracting like the past editions" added the administrative Director of the Senegalese athletics federation.