The "troubled" Athletics World Cup "suffered another blow" after adidas told its "stable of athletes" that they "would not receive any competition bonuses for taking part," according to Riath Al-Samarrai of the London DAILY MAIL. A number of the sport's biggest names will not appear at this month's inaugural edition at the London Stadium "over gripes about the absence of appearance money and its place in a congested schedule." In a "further difficult episode" for its organizers at British Athletics, adidas informed its sponsored athletes that "the bonuses they would ordinarily receive for appearing in competitions such as Diamond League or major championships will not apply in London." Numerous adidas athletes have reportedly "subsequently opted against competing, with the situation exacerbated for the British team, whose kit sponsor is Nike." Ordinarily an adidas athlete would be given contractual dispensation by his or her sponsor to run in Nike kit for his or her country at certain competitions, "but no such exemptions have been made for the Athletics World Cup" (DAILY MAIL, 7/4).
'BIG FLOP': In London, Ben Bloom reported the inaugural Athletics World Cup has been labelled "a big flop" after it emerged "the majority of big-name British athletes are snubbing an event" their governing body dubbed a "magic bullet" for the sport. A week after the U.S. named a team "missing a raft of Olympic and world champions," Britain will reportedly also be without almost all of its "headline names." Of the 15 British athletes on top-level funding, "just four will line up at the event," which takes place on July 14 and 15. One coach, whose athlete is skipping the event, said, "This is in danger of turning into a big flop." Another said, "It's just not that appetizing" (TELEGRAPH, 7/3).
