Nike has an exclusive sponsorship deal with the Kenyan athletics federation (Athletics Kenya) but according to a recent report in The New York Times, the company is now at the center of a corruption investigation in the country with regard to that contract. In 2011, the American giant agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in honorariums, on top of what it already paid, and a one-time “commitment bonus” of $500,000, which a former employee of Kenya's athletics federation has now called a bribe, with the aim of continuing to outfit Athletics Kenya. At the time, Nike had learned that a Chinese company was looking to sponsor Athletics Kenya, and Nike had responded by expanding its commitment and contract with the association. The competitive offer came from Li-Ning. According to The New York Times report, the $500,000 payment, which was supposed to support Kenyan athletes, was in fact immediately withdrawn from the federation's bank account by a handful of Kenyan officials and kept off the books. Nike has denied any wrongdoing in the matter. Kenya's Directorate of Criminal Investigations is looking into it while there are reportedly no plans, in the U.S., for American authorities to get involved.

Topics