SKNAAA PRO says athletes already signed contracts
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - CONTRARY to what was reported in The Jamaican Gleaner about athletes from St. Kitts and Nevis wanting to boycott the IAAF World Championships, an official of the St. Kitts-Nevis Amateur Athletic Association (SKNAAA) has denied the allegation and declared that all contracts have been signed and returned to the Association.
An article published yesterday (Jul. 15) in The Jamaican Gleaner, headlined “St. Kitts Athletes Threaten To Boycott World Champs”, stated that one of the athletes’ coaches, who asked not to be identified, said the dispute was over a contract offered to the athletes on July 2, 2013.
The media house also stated that the unnamed coach claimed that the athletes, who are prepared to sit out the World Championships, considered the proposal within the contract to be unfair.
The Gleaner claimed that information reaching its newsroom shows that the SKNAAA also tried to force a similar contract on the athletes in 2011, but that the proposed terms were also dismissed on that occasion.
The media house also stated that their source said: “(In 2011 the athletes) voiced their displeasure in writing, and refused to sign until some form of dialogue was done but the association did not respond until after the deadline set was passed.”
However, in an interview this morning (Jul. 16) with SKNVibes, Public Relations Officer of the SKNAAA Evris Huggins disclosed that the Association is unaware of any such threatened boycott and claimed that all athletes in the pool to be selected have already signed and returned their participating contracts.
“That is just preposterous! We have not received any indication of any boycott and, as a matter of fact, all the athletes who are considered for selection have signed and returned the contracts within the specific deadline.”
He added that there were some concerns by one athlete over the 20 percent issue, but the matter was resolved.
“There was a concern by one athlete who tried to negotiate the 20 percent in the contract, but we eventually came to an agreement. “We have no knowledge of any boycott. How could there be a boycott if the contract is signed?
“So, that story is preposterous. We have all the contracts signed. There is no boycott! Whoever is behind this story is trying to fabricate the matter and distract people from the real issues.”
The 20 percent issue first surfaced last year when a number of athletes, who were eligible to participate in the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, claimed that they did not understand the reason for the SKNAAA making that demand.
This media house was told that all athletes selected to represent the Federation at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey would have had to pay the SKNAAA a fee equal to 20 percent of the gross amounts earned at the meet.
When contacted, Huggins said that a new clause was added to the athletes’ contract and the decision was made in an effort to recoup expenses incurred and to maintain the current development programmes of the nation’s junior athletes.
He said that a new clause was added to the athletes’ contract Therefore, SKNVibes contacted Huggins who explained that the national team has not yet been selected and the contract was sent to all the qualified athletes with the aim of informing them of the new clause.
Huggins also said that when the contract was sent last year to the athletes, it was “a warning to the athletes that these are the expectations from here onwards, because the Association can no longer afford to subsidise the exorbitant costs of sending athletes half way around the world to compete in meets”.
The new clause states:
• The Athlete shall pay the SKNAAA a fee equal to 20% of the gross amounts paid to or earned by the Athlete for participating in the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. This shall include prize money, appearance fees (including fees paid for promotional activities and ancillary to the competition), or other performance bonuses, guarantees, and the value of any prizes or bonuses paid in the form of merchandise of any kind. However, if the athlete is sponsored by our principal sponsor, Adidas, then the “other performance bonuses, guarantees and the value of any prizes or bonuses paid in the form of merchandise of any kind” will not be included in the calculation of the gross amounts paid to or earned by the Athlete;
• All fees shall be paid when the Athlete, or any person acting in the capacity as his/her Representative receives the amounts against which the fees are calculated. The Athlete shall also be responsible to reimburse the SKNAAA for any of the Athlete’s personal expenses actually incurred and paid by the SKNAAA; and
• The term “gross” shall mean all income earned by the Athlete before deductions of any nature including, without limitation, federal and or state income tax withholding, social security, federal state disability insurance, etc.
Huggins noted that for many years the SKNAAA has been footing the bills of all the expenses for athletes to travel and participate in some of the major meets around the world, and that the association is no longer financially capable of absorbing future expenses.
Huggins explained that when the athletes are paid prize money and appearance fees, their agents are also paid a percentage of the earnings.
