The discussions with Athletics South Africa regarding organisational performance related issues of the road running events commenced during October 2008. Further to that the formal agreement to change the end date of the current contract with the ASA to November 2009 was finalised and signed in July 2009, well in advance of the Berlin World Athletics Championships and is therefore unrelated to current events at the ASA.
The timing regarding the announcement, while unfortunate, was as per the contractual requirements agreed upon in July by Nedbank and the ASA.
Further to that
• The Nedbank sponsorship was limited to road running events and did not include track and field events
• Nedbank remains a prized sponsor of many top class South African sporting events We firmly hope to be able to continue supporting road running at a national level in proud support of our nation.
Statement release by Nedbank Group Marketing on 6 October 2009