Kenyan 3,000 metres steeplechase world champion Ezekiel Kemboi will be allowed to compete at this year's Olympic Games despite facing a charge of assault, the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) said on Monday.
"Our laws state one is innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. Even the Olympic Charter states that a person is innocent until proven guilty," Kipchoge Keino, National Olympic Committee of Kenya chairman, told Reuters on Monday.
"We don't want to deny him his right, having qualified for the Games during the trials," he said.
Keino, the twice Olympic gold medallist, said he had consulted earlier with officials from the British High Commission, whom he did not want to identify.
Kemboi, Olympic champion in 2004, was charged with assault on Thursday following a violent incident during the previous night.
The London Olympics open on July 27.
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