NIKE CONTRACT NOT FAVOURING KENYANS:Rio report says American sports firm deal with NOCK needs review

Gold medalist Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) of Kenya and silver medalist Hellen Obiri (KEN) of Kenya pose with their medals.

The eight-year contract between National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) and Nike should be reviewed, the Rio Olympic Games probe committee has recommended.

The committee notes that the contract is skewed in favour of the American sports firm.

“Most notably, there lacks a feasible and genuinely practical exit for NOCK, which hardly enjoys any post-termination rights save for termination of contract in the unlikely event that Nike is declared bankrupt or fails to remedy contractual inconsistencies within a 30-day window,” notes the report.

The committee notes that as it is, the contract denies NOCK any opportunity to exit or enter into negotiations for a better deal or engage other firms in negotiations for a better contracts.

“By holding athletes’ image rights in perpetuity, as enshrined in the contract, Nike is essentially, so to speak, contractually enslaving the athletes and giving them no control over use of their https://cdn.standardmedia.co.ke/images at any given period even upon expiry of the contract,” the report points out.

Feverpitch sought a comment from Nike representatives in Oregon, United States of America and by the time of going to press they had not replied to our email.

The contract states in paragraph 8(a) that NOCK shall not engage in discussions or negotiations with any third party regarding post-contract supply rights with respect to any product or sponsorship of national teams prior to expiry of the agreement.

It further states that during the term and for a period of one year thereafter, Nike shall have the rights of first refusal for product supply/sponsorship rights.

The committee has also challenged NOCK to account for royalties paid by Nike under the Retail Licensing Rights which stipulates that the American firm shall pay royalties at the rate of six percent of net sales of licensed product.

“NOCK must also account for the annual grant of $714,000 by Nike which is set to increase to $740,000 from next year.

“They (NOCK) should also demonstrate that bonus payments by Nike for medals won at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games do trickle down to the individual medalists,” says part of the report.

It noted that several athletes among them Ezekiel Kemboi, Asbel Kiprop and Julius Yego have never received such bonuses despite winning gold medals at previous Commonwealth and Olympic games.
“According to schedule ‘A’ of the contract, the performance bonuses for the Olympics shall be paid as follows: $15,000 (gold), $7,500 (silver) and $5,000 (bronze).

For the Commonwealth games, the bonuses shall be $5,000 (gold), $3,000 (silver) and $1,500 (bronze),” notes the report.

The committee also wants NOCK to demonstrate how they have used the annual $520,000 worth of product for national teams delivered by Nike.

“We noted that while Nike engaged high-level professionals including legal minds in the execution of the contract, on their part NOCK did not demonstrate the necessity to do the same," the report notes.