Treu slams 'baseless' doping report

Kenyan coach Paul Treu has broken his silence over the doping allegations raised against him, his coaching staff and the Kenyan Sevens team.

According to media reports – both in Kenya and through international wire services – steroids were found in supplements given to players by the former South African coach, Treu.

A report by a task force set up by the government to investigate allegations of doping in Kenyan sport said, there were "strong suggestions" that Treu and his assistants had violated anti-doping rules by giving "concoctions" to players that contained banned substances and/or steroids.

However, Kenya Rugby Union Chairman Mwangi Muthee labelled the report as "fallacious" and Treu described it as "unfounded".

Treu told rugby365 that not one player was tested by the agency making the claims.

Treu said he was actually responsible for introducing a 'no-supplement policy' when he arrived in Kenya to take over coaching the Sevens team in November 2013.

"When I arrived, players were taking typical off-the-shelf supplements," Treu said.

"We decided – as we had done in South Africa – to not endorse or advocate taking supplements of any kind, preferring to focus on proper nutrition," the Kenyan coach said.

The Kenyan Government's Task Force, led by Professor Moni Wekesa, completed its initial report in April this year.

It was only recently handed over to the Secretary of Sports, Arts and Culture, Hassan Wario.

The KRU boss, Muthee, in a statement released on Tuesday (October 21), accused the task force of "shoddy and misinformed work" saying its findings were "absolute rubbish".

Treu said there has been a lack of transparency around the report, which he has not even seen, and he also questions the credentials of the task force investigators.

The International Rugby Board doesn't recognise the agency.

"We know the risk of supplements as we know how easily they can cause athletes to fail tests," Treu said.

"During my time with [the] South African [Sevens team], we had a strict supplement policy, developed in conjunction with scientists and dieticians, specifically for this reason.

"That's why, from the very beginning, when we came into the Kenyan Sevens set up, we tried to get rid of supplements," he told rugby365.

"It was one of the first actions we took on arrival in Kenya.

"We wanted to substitute supplements with food and rather use only a certified product that was guaranteed not to be contaminated. The use of supplements is definitely NOT part of our game plan," he said.

Ross Tucker, a globally respected sports scientist and outspoken critic of doping, has consulted and advised Treu on scientific and strategic matters since 2007.

"The supplement industry is not controlled well enough [for us] to have absolute faith in it. And besides, there's little evidence that they really work, provided diet is optimised.

"The only responsible approach is to remove all supplements, and then specifically seek out certified supplements and food products, which is exactly what we did at the outset," Treu said.

Treu and Tucker believe there is an opportunity to educate sporting bodies, athletes and coaching staff in Kenya on supplements and the value of sports nutrition in preparing players physically.

"My strategic focus in training is to apply the South African approach where we condition players using the science of nutrition," Treu said.

"We need to bring in experts in this complex field to show them how it's done, properly. We need to know what substances are banned, and which are legal. How they are contaminated. How to condition players using the science of nutrition."

The supplement at the heart of the controversy, Evox, was brought in by the Kenyan Rugby Union a year ago, before Treu started as the Sevens coach.

They handed over the supplement to the government investigators at the end of 2013.

The players themselves weren't tested.

Treu said he and his coaching staff  were not interviewed nor requested to provide answers to queries.

They would welcome an independent investigation, are happy to answer any questions and would provide any evidence or material requested by such a body.

This includes financial records of purchases, communication with companies involved, and player training data.

"I believe in transparency so urge the task team to release the full report and the laboratory tests done on the supplement. It is incumbent on them to make public the names of the drugs, the amounts they found in the product, their benefits, if any, and their side effects so the sports industry is made fully aware of all the issues involved," he said.

Treu said no one has had eyes on the report and that a 'normal' process would be to alert the union to claims that a product might be contaminated, conduct the study, and then tell the union the results.

The comments by Professor Wekesa were highly defamatory and we, as the Kenya Sevens management, reserve all our rights, Treu said.

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