Athletics Kenya (AK) chief executive Isaac Mwangi will temporarily step aside pending an investigation into claims that he asked for bribes to reduce the doping bans of two athletes who failed drugs tests, an AK source told Reuters on Tuesday.

A member of the federation's executive committee said Mwangi had asked for an investigation into allegations by Joy Sakari and Francisca Koki Manunga that Mwangi had asked each athlete for $24,000 to reduce their four-year bans.

Mwangi last week dismissed the allegations as a "fabrication". Athletics Kenya is due to hold a press conference in Kenyan capital Nairobi on Tuesday afternoon.

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