Daily Mail

STARS SNUB CUP IN ADIDAS BONUS ROW

- By RIATH AL-SAMARRAI

THe troubled Athletics World Cup has suffered another blow after adidas told their stable of athletes that there would be no bonuses for competing. In May Sportsmail revealed exclusivel­y that some of the sport’s biggest names would not appear at this month’s inaugural edition at the london Stadium over gripes about the absence of appearance money and an already congested schedule. Now the World Cup has suffered a further knock with the news that adidas have told their sponsored athletes that the bonuses usually on offer for appearing in events such as Diamond league or major championsh­ips will not apply in london.

Sportsmail understand­s that numerous adidas athletes have subsequent­ly opted not to compete. The situation is exacerbate­d for the British team, whose kit sponsor is Nike. ordinarily an adidas athlete would be given contractua­l dispensati­on to run in Nike kit for their country at certain competitio­ns but no such exemptions have been made for the Athletics World Cup. It is an indication of the political challenges faced by British Athletics in launching a genuinely exciting concept. It is also another painful setback for the fledgling event which sees eight nations face off on two days on July 14 and 15. The British team itself is expected to be understren­gth when it is announced today. laura Muir is not taking part and among the sprinters — typically the marquee draw in athletics — adidas athlete Zharnel Hughes will skip it, as will British champion Reece Prescod, Diamond league series winner CJ ujah, 200m national champion Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Dina Asher-Smith, British record holder for 100m and 200m. olympic sprinter Adam Gemili is also not running. The uSA line-up also looks like being significan­tly weakened. Adidas athlete Noah lyles, the fastest man in the world this year, is not coming over to london and nor is world 60m champion Christian Coleman. Americans Justin Gatlin, Tori Bowie, Christian Taylor, Allyson Felix, Dalilah Muhammad, Tianna Bartoletta and Brianna McNeal are also skipping the meet. Niels de Vos, uK Athletics chief executive, previously labelled the event as ‘a magic bullet’ for the sport but some are already questionin­g if it has been thought out as well as it could have been.

 ??  ?? No show: Hughes will skip World Cup
No show: Hughes will skip World Cup

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