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NAIROBI Nike Air Max 1 Ingrosso , May 8 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's doping controversy got murkier Thursday when a ministerial probe committee confirmed that the vice is practised beyond track and field.


Rugby and football, the two other sports with huge following in the country, have their athletes engaged in the vice and Moni Wekesa, the Chairman of the Probe Committee, has asked the government to rein in and address the issue.


""After the three months work across the country, we found out that rugby players have been using food supplements laced with banned substances. It is normal in their practice,"" he said.


""We talked to a number of footballers and were shocked that most of them take bhang (cannabis sativa). It is not just the players but coaches as well. There are no strong structures and information to address the vice. It is why we have no tests carried out on this players and they easily get away with it,"" he said.


Kenya's Sports Minister Hassan Wario, appointed the committee in November to carry out investigation after World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said the vice is widespread in Kenya.


""We will implement the report as soon as possible. I want there to be broader awareness in sports circles. Reports that our athletes were using drugs were beginning to paint the country negatively. This will help us deal with this matter,"" The minister said.


WADA officials came to Kenya to try to speed up investigations into doping. They met Hassan Wario, and the members of a 12-member special taskforce that was appointed by the government to investigate allegations of widespread doping among Kenyan athletes.


The taskforce submitted their report to the government on Thursday. Wekesa also revealed that the committee widened their scope to focus on football and rugby together with athletics so as to get to the bottom of the problem.


Only one Kenyan footballer Philip Opiyo has been banned for taking bhang. This was in 2006 when he was playing in South Africa.


The committee said Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) officials admitted to giving national team players food supplements laced with banned substances.