Recently, Ferdinand Omanyala became Kenya’s sensation after breaking record with his breath-taking speed. He was crowned the fastest man in Africa after clocking 9.77 seconds during the Kip Keino Classics at Kasarani stadium.
However few days later, his sponsor DBA Africa announced that it had cut ties with the athlete. While responding to the press, the company’s Director Storm Trentham alleged that Omanyala violated the agreements between the two sides.
She said the company’s core values are vital and all that are involved with the company must stick to them. “Unfortunately if athletes fail to maintain the company’s values, we cannot successfully work together,” said Trentham.
She stated that terminating a contract when an athlete is in their prime speaks a lot about how important they feel to protect their brand and the professional image they share with the sporting world.
She said that they worked with Omanyala unofficially since December 2020 but he signed a two-year contract in February 2021 with DBA Africa. She disclosed that they facilitated his expenses to travel around Africa for Olympic qualifying games and other areas of his career.
However, Omanyala responded that he has not been working with DBA Africa since May because the company is not registered by World Athletics. While performing, he donned the company’s kits when he broke the national record by clocking 10.01 seconds in Nigeria in March and also clocked 10.06 seconds in South Africa in May.