Global Athlete Calls Out Sponsors
The Global Athlete Start-Up Group has called on sponsors “to develop a meaningful athlete-first approach that demands sports change the outdated ‘athletes last’ mentality”, “to start caring more about athletes’ rights and wellbeing” and honour their “duty of care to protect athletes competing in sport”.
The comment from the “athletes for athletes” representative group is directed at all sponsors but aimed at Nike in particular after the imposition by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) of a four-year ban on Nike Oregon Project leaders Alberto Salazar and Dr. Jeffrey Brown.
A case was opened in 2015 after the BBC Panorama team exposed questionable practices and allegations that the Project used practices that tested the letter and spirit of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code. Athletes were instrumental in bringing the case, as Global Athlete notes, with praise, in its statement.
Mark Daly, the BBC reporter whose Panorama programme sparked the USADA investigations that led to the suspensions of Salazar and Brown, began his investigations back in 2013. The USADA case mounted as a result of Daly’s findings was contested by both men facing allegations, whose legal argument was supported by funding from Nike.
The sponsor responded to the news by continuing to support the two men suspended, including backing for the decision to appeal the decisions.
Nike stated that USADA’s decision had “nothing to do with administering banned substances to any Oregon Project athlete”.
Many on social media have replied to that by asking, in so many words: “Name me a program where the coach and doctor fell foul of the WADA Code but that did not involve any athletes”.
In a detailed report by Daly, headlined “Alberto Salazar: The inside story of Nike Oregon Project founder’s downfall”, the BBC yesterday charted the course of the investigations.
Today, a statement from Global Athlete (in full at the foot of this article), asserted: “The case proves once again that bad actors are influencing athlete behaviours.
“The Global Athlete Start-Up Group believe it is now time for sponsors to start caring more about athletes’ rights and wellbeing. Sponsors are the ones funding the multibillion-dollar sport industry and they must have a duty of care to protect athletes competing in sport.
“Athlete rights need to be protected and athlete welfare must be improved. We call on all sponsors to develop a meaningful athlete-first approach that demands sports change the outdated “athletes last” mentality that we see all too often today.”
The BBC investigation that led to USADA’s inquiry that led to a ban on Nike Oregon Project leaders. Photo Courtesy: BBC, screen shot
Global Athlete’s statement highlights a serious flaw in the governance structures of Olympic sport: conflicts of interest, some of them built on long associations in the sports “family”. That word and “friendships” have often been barriers to doing the right thing when bad practices are revealed, critics note, while inquiry, if any takes place at all, is slow and reluctant.
In common with other sports, swimming has several striking cases of athletes who have fallen foul of the WADA Code being supported and funded by sponsors, including key kit suppliers. At the same time, international governance is stacked with ‘volunteer executives” who have vested commercial interests in the organisations and sports in which they claim to be volunteering. At the heart of that culture is Omertà, critics, academics and observers of the Olympic Movement have been at pains to point out.
At a time of troubling issues on other fronts, IAAF president, Sebastian Coe, has told athletes coached by Salazar (or involved with Brown) that they must sever their links with immediate effect after they had been found guilty of “orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct”.
Coe also defended sticking up for Salazar, a “friend”, in the past.
“When you have been in the sport as long as I have, friendships and relationships can go back a long way,” Coe told media at the World Championships for track and field in Doha after ordering Salazar to be stripped of his accreditation.
“Alberto and I held world records at the same time. The charges laid by USADA were really serious and we are now in business mode. The Athletics Integrity Unit has already been in contact with those athletes and they are being asked to sever those relationships.”
Those who will have to change coaches include Sifan Hassan, the world 10,000m champion. When Coe was asked whether the ban reflected poorly on Britain’s distance champion Mo Farah, he said:
“Athletes have to have complete and total trust in their coaches and if they don’t the relationship will fray. And if a coach is accused of something an athlete has to ask really detailed questions. You have to assume athletes do that.”
Comment: Global Athlete reserves plaudits (justified praise) for athletes and USADA in its statement but falls shy of praise where praise is clearly due: for the work of journalists, most specifically in this case that of Daly at the BBC. As with the Russian Doping Crisis and its exposure, it took the media to investigate and draw attention to serious allegations, some already known to authorities, before anti-doping agencies got to work. USADA has a strong track record of paying attention to media investigations that elevate serious concerns from the whisper in “the family” to the public domain. Of late, WADA has show signs of commitment to the same pathway – and not before time.
That effort should extend to greater determination when it comes to investigations left hanging in the air. WADA is aware of malpractice at the highest levels of swimming governance but appears not to have followed through on information it received from sources that could hardly be more sound and solid. In one case, old relationships and statuses too long regarded as untouchable are in play. That is unsustainable – as time and coverage will tell.
The Global Athlete Statement in full:
1 October 2019: The Global Athlete Start-Up Group would like to congratulate the athletes for their strength and bravery for coming forward to expose doping practices of Alberto Salazar and Dr. Jeffery Brown at the Nike Oregon Project.
The Brown and Salazar case proves that when athletes are brave and speak up, and more importantly speak up to trusted authorities, they can make a difference to clean sport and make a difference for better sport that we all want to see.
We would like to commend those brave athletes that stuck to their principles to report wrongdoing.
USADA should also be commended for investing tireless hours to bring this to justice and for protecting the whistleblowers that came forward. The case proves once again that bad actors are influencing athlete behaviors.
The Global Athlete Start-Up Group believe it is now time for sponsors to start caring more about athletes’ rights and wellbeing. Sponsors are the ones funding the multibillion-dollar sport industry and they must have a duty of care to protect athletes competing in sport.
Athlete rights need to be protected and athlete welfare must be improved. We call on all sponsors to develop a meaningful athlete-first approach that demands sports change the outdated “athletes last” mentality that we see all too often today.
We encourage all athletes to stand up and speak for positive change. Global Athlete is here to listen and, despite the odds and the power behind the system, truth brings about real change.
The Global Athlete Start-Up Group consists of:
- Akwasi Frimpong
Olympic Bobsleigh and Skelton Athlete
Ghana - Noah Hoffman
Olympic Cross-Country Skier
United States of America - Ali Jawad
Olympic Para Powerlifter
United Kingdom - Caradh O’Donovan
World Champion Kick Boxer and Karate
Ireland - Callum Skinner
Olympic Cyclist
United Kingdom - Rachael Sporn
Olympic Basketball
Australia