MONACO: Bahrain’s athletics team has been forced to pause its successful strategy of naturalising African athletes after accepting a package of doping-related sanctions.

World Athletics said on Thursday that Bahrain had been limited to a maximum of 10 athletes in the athletics competitions at the Paris Olympics – which had not yet been announced – and next year’s world championships in Tokyo.

Bahrain’s team in Paris included Kenyan-born Winfred Yavi, who won gold in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Nigerian-born sprinter Salwa Eid Naser, who won silver in the 400-meter race. Neither athlete has been accused of wrongdoing.

The Bahrain Athletics Federation admitted that it had “behaved negligently and/or recklessly in relation to doping and/or had prejudiced the interests of World Athletics or damaged the reputation of the sport of athletics”. Another allegation relates to the employment of staff who work with the athletes, World Athletics said.

An investigation had previously been launched into allegations that two athletes had used blood transfusions at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The BAA is also said to have “hired” a coach who was banned for doping, World Athletics said.

Bahrain has committed to stop recruiting foreign athletes by 2027, World Athletics said. The next Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles in 2028. Bahrain has also committed to funding a “talent academy” to develop local athletes and has set up a new national anti-doping body.

This is not the first time that Bahrain has been targeted for doping, particularly among its naturalised athletes.

Naser missed the Tokyo Olympics while serving a suspension for being unavailable for doping tests. Kemi Adekoya, a former world indoor 400-meter champion, was banned for four years in a steroid case in 2019. Marathon runner Marius Kimutai was banned for three years in April after failing a doping test.