Striking a deal with sportswear giants Nike or Adidas is a dream of any athlete, and Namibia’s sprint sensations Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi recently joined a long list of renowned athletes who have sportswear sponsorship deals with the famous brands.

Their coach Henk Botha yesterday officially confirmed that Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mboma and fellow Olympics finalist Masilingi recently penned deals with Nike and Adidas, respectively, which will see them sporting the companies’ attires at various international competitions.

“Yes, I can confirm that she [Mboma] has been signed with Nike since June; I am not sure about the exact date of the deal. But I cannot share the ins and outs of the contract due to confidential reasons – that’s for Christine and Nike only to know. I really think there is no need for people to know about the finer details of the deal,” said Botha, who also revealed that Masilingi was accorded a similar deal by Adidas.

He clarified that both are sponsorship deals, not endorsement deals as many are suggesting. The material difference between a sponsorship deal and an endorsement deal is that with sponsorship deals, companies can pay for some or all costs involved with the athlete’s participation at various events, including their sportswear such as shoes and tracksuits.

With endorsements deals, the athlete is commercially used by the companies to endorse their various products and in return the companies pay the athlete a lucrative fee.

Both Mboma and Masilingi now join the likes of local football star Deon Hotto, who also has a sponsorship deal with Adidas. Legendary sprinter Frank Fredericks also had a sponsorship deal with Japanese sportswear giant Mizuno. 

According to creatitive.com, the likes of Nike and Adidas don’t accept unsolicited requests, but they are the ones that usually reach out to the athletes.

- mkambukwe@nepc.com.na