The Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) Chief Executive Officer, Tuelo Serufho, says the local sports fraternity is concerned with athletes signing contract agreements with third parties without notifying local sports governing bodies.
Speaking in an interview, Serufho said the concern, which is shared by both the BNOC, the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) as well as local sporting codes, comes out of a genuine concern for the athletes’ welfare.
He said with Botswana sport now coming of age and local athletes showcasing their talent in the international arena, local athletes are now more likely to fall prey to signing deals that may lead to exploitation. He said as such, the local sport governing bodies are racing against time to make multi pronged programmes to help elite athletes make informed choices to safeguard their future.
The multi-pronged programme will include hosting workshops for elite athletes to educate them on contract agreements, putting in place rules regarding athletes’ response to approaches from agents and companies while on national duty as well as trying to help athletes with legal advice whilst also trying to groom local agents to help athletes.
“We are currently busy arranging workshops for our elite athletes. We have realized that while we had workshops for them in the past, they were for a select few and also did not cover these issues enough. We are hoping to have a workshop that is inclusive of all our elite athletes very soon where these issues will be covered broadly,” Serufho explained.
Concerning athletes on national duty, the BNOC CEO said they are coming up with a plan to ensure that they (athletes) do not sign contracts with third parties while on national duty.
“What we want is for athletes not to rush into signing contracts in haste without getting proper advice. As such, we want to put in place measures that will ensure that if our athletes are approached by agents or companies with contracts while on national duty, they can desist from signing in haste. This will give them time to have a closer look at the contracts or even to take them before the legal experts or the local sport governing bodies for second opinion or legal advice where possible,” the BNOC CEO said, adding that with most of the major companies and agents having been in the athlete contract game for a long time now, they have evolved their contracts so much that they are in most cases very watertight for athletes to renege from them should they feel they are now being exploited.
“This will mean athletes being tied to contracts that are not good for their welfare for almost their entire career. We want to avoid situations where our athletes will be paupers when they retire despite having had illustrious careers,” Serufho added.
He said they are also looking at the possibility of grooming and helping local sport agents to represent local athletes. Serufho said with local sport growing, there is a need for local agents to be involved to help safeguard the welfare of local athletes.
“We are looking at engaging practicing agents to come and develop our local agents. If you look at some African countries, they have developed their own agents who have now grown and are representing their athletes,” Serufho added.
The issue of local athletes signing unfavorable contracts with third parties was one of the most debated during the recently held Sports Pitso, with participants and facilitators calling for more education to athletes. Both the facilitators and participants agreed that due to lack of proper education, many athletes were likely to be exploited by unscrupulous businessmen and companies.
Making a presentation during the Sports Pitso, Attorney Kelebogile Kewagamang of Rantao Kewagamang Attorneys had highlighted that their interaction with athletes during workshops had revealed what she termed ‘a classic lack of understanding of the principles that underpin contracts.’
“We asked those (athletes) who had entered into contracts to share their experiences. From this exercise, it was clear that the athletes had a classic lack of understanding of the principles that underpin contracts, albeit having concluded contracts. They signed the contracts without any expert advice, and were not even given time to properly read and understand the contract before appending their signatures. They therefore signed contracts without understanding them and only sought advice later,” Kewagamang said. Kewagamang said there is a need for athletes to be fully appraised on the value of expert advice and the involvement of other professionals in their enterprise, so that they are better placed to deal with third parties, especially the international market.
