Kenyan Runners Accuse Officials Of Stealing From Sponsorship Deal
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| Athletics Kenya Officials |
On Monday, dozens of world-class athletes "stormed the headquarters of the
national athletics association," accusing top officials of "stealing
money from a Nike deal and demanding that they resign." Julius Ndegwa, a
spokesperson for the runners, said, "These guys have eaten so much,"
using the Kenyan term "to eat" to refer to official stealing. He
added, "Enough is enough." Ndegwa said that "more than 70
runners were planning to spend the night in front of the offices to make sure
the officials could not get inside.
" The Int'l Association of Athletics
Federations announced this month that "its ethics commission was looking
into allegations that officials from Athletics Kenya, Kenya’s governing body
for athletics," skimmed nearly $700,000 from a multimillion-dollar
sponsorship deal with Nike. Kenyan detectives "are also investigating the
allegations." Nike said in a statement, "We are cooperating with the local
authorities in their investigation. Nike conducts business with integrity and
expects that our partners do the same" (N.Y. TIMES 11/23 ().
REUTERS' Edmund Blair wrote
Commissioner for Sports Gordon Oluoch said that "he would try and resolve
their complaints, but did not commit himself to any specific action," and
criticized the protesters for resorting to "the laws of the jungle."
The Professional Athletes' Association of Kenya said that "it feared that
honest athletes could face collective punishment because of scandals about
doping and media allegations that top Athletics Kenya officials had embezzled
some sponsorship money." Athletics Kenya "denied all such
allegations"
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