Norwegian Olympic athlete dumped over promotion of Vemma
Jaysuma Saidy Ndura describes himself as “the best athelete in Norway”.
Born in Western Gambia, after competing locally in his youth, Ndura moved to Norway in 2002 and officially changed his nationality to Norwegian in 2006.
Since then Ndura has continued to compete at a professional level representing Norway.
(Ndura) holds Norwegian records in the 100 and holds both the Gambian and Norwegian records in the 200 metres,and is the seventh and fourth fastest person to race for Europe of all times on the two distances.
He has a bronze medal from the African Championships and several top-three placings in IAAF Golden League meets and the IAAF World Athletics Final.
Around August of this year, Ndura signed on Vemma to be a brand ambassador for their energy drink, Verve. A press-release issued by Vemma reads,
We’re thrilled to announce that Jaysuma Ndure is now a Verve brand ambassador. In coming months, he will endorse Verve in Europe.
Norwegian, born in Bakau Gambia on the west coast of Africa, Jays now lives and trains in Norway. At the Norwegian Grand Prix Florø 2014, Jays set a new record, completing the 100-meter sprint in 9.95 second. At 200 meters, he holds the men’s records in Norway and Gambia.
As you might expect, Jays is totally dedicated to keeping his body in shape. He lifts weights for body strength. He runs to toughen his endurance. And he practices every aspect of his sprinting form to achieve perfection. The result? Dazzling speed.
Jays is strategic about the foods that nourish his body. So it’s no surprise that he chooses the Vemma Formula in Verve. It gives his body more of what it needs to compete head-to-head with the world’s most gifted athletes.
We are happy that Jaysuma Ndure has chosen to help promote Verve. His dedication to sport made him a superstar on the track. We predict that his enthusiasm will supercharge the wellness industry too.
Unfortunately for Ndure his new relationship with Vemma didn’t go down well with Olympiatoppen, the organisation responsible for training Norwegian Olympic athletes.
In a statement issued by Olympiatoppen media-consultant Halvor Lea to Dagbladet, he explained
We have guidelines for the use and marketing of dietary supplements, and (what Vemma) does is a violation of this policy.
We have communicated this to (Ndure) on several occasions.
It seems Ndure has thus far ignored concerns from Olympiatoppen, resulting the organization officially severing ties with the athlete.
Olympiatoppen no longer has a professional relationship with (Ndure, and) it is due to this issue.
In addition to losing the support of the Norwegian Olympic body, Olympiatoppen’s decision is understood to have cost Ndure a 70,000 NKR annual sports scholarship ($10,400 USD).
What exactly it is about Vemma that Olympiatoppen takes issue with is unclear. Comments from Ndure’s coach, Olav Magne Tveitå, suggest it was due to his promotional efforts within the Olympic organisation:
Jays has agents of these products themselves and (they) sell them. He got in touch with someone and was recruited fairly quickly. So he brought products to Olympiatoppen and would sell them.
The case has created major problems for the team around Ndure.
It would seem there’s a possible issue with Ndure attempting to recruit athletes and/or staff within Olympiatoppen. And if that’s the case, then I can wholly understand why they dropped him.
All is not lost though, with Lea stating that Ndure would be welcome back at the organisation if he “breaks with Vemma”.
Is being a brand ambassador for Vemma worth throwing away what’s left of Ndure’s Olympic career?
Taken from a promotional video shot in September, Ndure explains:
Being part of Vemma is like, I’m an athlete but I’m never gunna be running forever. And then what I’m doing right now is like starting a business, for like afterwards when I’m done with my career. So I have something to go on to.
I wonder what he’ll decide to do…
Oz, in Vemma a “brand ambassador” *is* an affiliate. That’s what Vemma call them.
Seriously? I thought it was like a spokesperson thing.
Wow so everyone is running around as an “official brand ambassador”. That’s a bit wanky hey.
I’ll update the article to reflect that.
At least that’s what the company called them in 2013. They changed terminologies in 2014. They’re now “affiliates”.
Though the term “brand ambassador” can still be found all over the net, just not on Vemma’s official sites. I’m sure WayBack machine will have archived them somewhere.
So today who are brand ambassadors? That promo vid I capped was only a few months ago.
They sound like “master distributors” to me.
Well if he chooses Vemma over his Olympic career and starts looking a little pudgy around the midsection, Vemma might drop him for hardly representing the Olympic athlete he once was.
Or he might just fade into the background as “the ex-Norwegian Olympic athlete who signed with Vemma before looking pudgy around the mid section.”
AFAIK, still everybody. Here’s a message relayed by a Vemma affiliate on her Vemma microsite, from BK Boreyko, dated May 2014:
NOLINK://www.radiance.vemma.com/blog.html?id=31303
I think it’s was BK that claimed that Vemma is now affiliate marketing, not MLM, but the affiliates are still “brand ambassadors”.
Partly to his defense:
* He did send a letter to “The Olympic Top”, asking about it before he signed up. But the answer to that letter was delayed for a few weeks.
* He had already spent the money he received for promoting the dietary supplement in a commercial, when he received the answer / warning / termination of contract from “The Olympic Top”.
The dispute is about the dietary supplement itself (not about pyramid scheme activity). It will need to be approved by a specific labaratory, Informed Sport, before it legally can be used by professional athletes = it can’t be promoted to athletes either.
He’s violating 2 rules:
1. Use of the dietary supplement (can easily be corrected)
2. Promoting the dietary supplement (he’s bound by a contract)
A potential solution can be to get the dietary supplement approved by the correct laboratory. That will take time. It will also need to be approved by local Food Authorities.
Then Vemma’s doomed either way.
Either A) Verve’s found to contain substances NOT acceptable to Olympians, or B) Verve’s found to contain nothing of worth (which will sink it permanently)
But then, if MLM can sell “canned air” to MMA fans (merely by sending free cans to fighters and other athletes, and WADA certified it to do nothing (i.e. no advantage to the users) Verve can probably do the same.
Well K Chang, there might be a C alternative; Informed Sports finds that Verve contains no illegal substances for athletes, but loads of Minerals/Vitamines that all people (especially athletes) need on a daily basis.