World Athletics has denied nationality transfer requests for 11 elite athletes to Turkey, citing a coordinated recruitment strategy by the Turkish government. The athletes include five Kenyans, four Jamaicans, a Nigerian, and a Russian.
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Brigid Kosgei won marathon silver for Kenya at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 [Getty Images]
World Athletics has rejected the applications of 11 elite athletes to switch their nationality to Turkey.
The governing body said the requests were "part of a coordinated recruitment strategy" by the country's government "to attract overseas athletes through lucrative contracts".
The 11 athletes included five Kenyans - including former women's marathon world record-holder Brigid Kosgei - four Jamaicans, a Nigerian and Russian.
Roje Stona, who won Olympic men's discus gold for Jamaica in 2024, was also one of the group.
Turkey failed to win any golds among its eight medals at the 2024 Games in Paris.
World Athletics said allowing the athletes to transfer their nationality "would impinge upon and compromise the imperatives underlying the World Athletics eligibility rules and transfer of allegiance regulations".
Additionally, it said the applications, "through a wholly-owned and financed government club", were part of an "aim of facilitating transfers of allegiance and enabling those athletes to represent Turkey at future international competitions, including the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games".
It added: "Given the common features across the applications, the panel assessed them together and determined that such an approach is inconsistent with the core principles of the regulations.
"As a result of the decisions, the athletes are not eligible to represent Turkey in national representative competitions or other relevant international events."
The other athletes were Catherine Relin Amanang'ole, Brian Kibor, Ronald Kwemoi and Nelvin Jepkemboi from Kenya, Jamaica's Rajindra Campbell, Jaydon Hibbert and Wayne Pinnock plus Nigeria's Favour Ofili and Russian Sophia Yakushina.
World Athletics rejected the transfers because they were part of a coordinated recruitment strategy by the Turkish government to attract overseas athletes.
The denied athletes include five Kenyans, four Jamaicans, a Nigerian, and a Russian, among them former women's marathon world record-holder Brigid Kosgei.
The rejection may impact Turkey's ability to attract top talent in athletics and could affect the athletes' career opportunities and national representation.
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