The government has moved to address widespread concerns about Kenyan athletes competing for other countries or switching their nationality.
Sports Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen who spoke on Friday during the Talanta sports gala said Kenya has no problem with this practice at all.
He explained that Kenya being a competitive country has led to a situation where some athletes opt to run for other countries after failing the trials.
"For the avoidance of doubt, we have no problems with any Kenya who chooses to run or live in another country. We do not!" he said.
In any case, Murkomen noted that this is not the first time this is happening.
He was responding to the recent debate by a section of Kenyans alleging that many local athletes are changing nationalities for not being recognised locally or accorded a chance to represent the country.
They cited Kenyan-born Bahrain Winfred Yavi who beat Kenyans to win the 3,000 steeplechase in the concluded Paris Olympic games.
According to the CS, athletes going abroad to look for opportunities is "like the labor we are exporting to go and work abroad."
He cited Wilson Kipketer who switched to Denmark, Lonah Kiplagat who got married in the Netherlands, Bernard Lagat (US), and Stephen Cherono (Qatar) among several others.
"They must not be picked and ostracised. They must be supported the same way the president is supporting the export of labor from this country to other countries," he said.
Yavi, Murkomen said, has Kenya's full support to run for her country (Bahrain) "She must know we will allow athletes to run for other countries but will beat them."
"We were just unlucky she beat us the other day," he joked.
Murkomen stressed that labor migration across the world should never be an issue of concern, especially for Africans who secure opportunities in European nations.
"In any case they all train here in Kenya jointly and the monthly they get there they bring it home to build houses for their parents or start businesses," he added.
