As Brian stated in his Letsrun.com post, he was consulted on the deal by his agent at the time by Glenn Latimer (now Chairman of USATF Long Distance Running), as well as Mark Bossardet of Reebok (now VP of marketing for Saucony), and Steve Bosley of the Bank of Boulder; though the deal was done directly through Tadaaki Hayano (now director of the Tokyo Marathon).
”The entire deal was offered to me by Mazda through him. Everything I asked for came after Glenn and Mark Bossardet's input - get nothing less than 100,000 US per year, get a job in the US guaranteed for after the contract, get Mazda team to wear Reebok equipment, and you continue to be on the Reebok team (which was all agreed to on paper)”, Brian says. So, he would seemingly have some allies in the fight for his money owed under the terms of the contract. And, in the beginning he did. When he had still not received his contracted payment or his apartment after four months, the man who set up the contract, Tadaaki Hayano, came to Japan and confronted Mazda in April of ‘92.
“Tad realized that Mazda were intent on not meeting their side of the deal very soon after I arrived in Japan. He confided that he'd been tipped off by Mr. Abe, an assistant coach with the Mazda team, about something that was not right about Mazda and the agreement with me.”
Tad was to tell them that the Massachusetts law had been used to break his contract with Reebok meaning Mazda would be in violation of the law. Mazda continued to make excuses. In July of ’92 he was told that Mazda was in heavy debt and in major financial trouble. Brian was asked to instead take one lump sum payment with interest at 7.23% at the end of the contract in July of ’98. Brian agreed to it. He was after all being paid the living expense in the meantime.
What had really happened between Tad and Mazda was different, Brian says. “Mazda paid him instead to walk away. I had no idea about the payment to Tad until Mazda HR began to shout at me at the end of the six month stay when I started to talk about returning to Boulder. A Mr. Hada of Mazda HR told me that the terms were slightly in Mazda's favor now since they had bought Tad. He explained that Mazda had paid him and he demanded that I ask Tad to make any contact to Mazda because he was working for Mazda now.”
“Tad continues to simply say to me he can't remember or Mazda are lying. I have given him the person's name but he won't call him. In fact, over the next six months I was forced to pay him a lot of money through pressure from him and Mazda. When I went to Boulder en route to Bobby Crim in August 1992 Tad locked me into his bedroom and had me sign on a blue piece of scrap paper that I would pay for his graduate studies at CU - $4000 per semester. I have his letters making the follow-up demands. In fact, Mazda said if I didn't pay Tad I would be on my own in Japan. Japanese immigration would extradite me to Zimbabwe.”
So where was Brian to turn? He reported both Tad and Mazda to Mr. Susumu Sunahara of the JAAF (Japan Assoc. of Athletics Fed.) in 1993 and has repeated his pleas for help every year since. "It's a scandal that must be avoided..." Mr. Sunahara told him.
“Mazda legal department's Mr. Ito has fully acknowledged my claim to be more serious than I understand it to be. In fact he was the person who said at the time the contract paper was being drawn, as an assistant manager in Mazda HR he was asked to do the visa application paperwork for me. And he said to me, on or around August 19 2004, that he had warned the HR people not to do the illegal thing they were planning in regards to the contract. He told me and I mentioned it in my post on Let’s run that Mazda intended to have my services for free even despite the fact that Mazda had broken my deal with Reebok. He gave me the exact person to confront.
What's my problem? I have never been allowed to see anybody in the legal department nor in the PR department to complain. Mazda keep saying I am handled by a group that isn't directly Mazda but a section of the worker's union welfare fund. Meaning? A paper organization that can't be sued nor even identified. Mazda now say I never ever had an association with the company. I was purged. But that's not the only purging I was subjected to. The IAAF also removed all trace of my athletic performances. Since 1998 when I started to demand my payment from Mazda and intensified my threats of going to the IAAF I've found no data what-so-ever about me in IAAF files.”
And where was Glenn Latimer, Brian’s agent through it all? Well, according to Glenn, he never was Brian’s agent, telling me he merely assisted Brian in gaining entry to a few races in the US. He also denies ever talking with Brian regarding the contract and move to Japan and stated that he was “surprised to learn Brian had gone to Japan”.
“I'm not going to call him a liar but what he has said is not the truth.” Brian says. “To hear that he was not my agent does come as a huge surprise…. I have written documents from Glenn to Mazda which clearly inform Mazda that he is my sole agent. The deal with Mazda was clearly known to him and with his blessing. I even made arrangement to pay him ten percent…..No, he did not talk directly with Mazda during the negotiations, but he was fully aware of it and was going to receive ten percent. And that ten percent I still believe I owe him.”
So why would Glenn abandon the deal and Brian? Brian says the relationship had soured in part when he was not released by Mazda for races that Glenn had arranged. “He wrote so very angry letters to me when Mazda would not release me for races he was putting together for me... He seemed to blame me for not really wanting to go. But I was in no position to argue and he never understood that… In fact when I was at Mazda he solicited Mazda sponsorship for a club he had in Mexico. Mazda agreed and asked me to provide the athlete list. Glen sent it and all but a few were Englishmen. Mazda were stunned to realize that it was not a club but rather the athletes he represented. They told me they were surprised I would be part of such a stunt. Glen didn't take it too kindly. I have a letter in which he tells me that one woman runner is worth six of me…..I began understand the nature of our relationship. In fact I had made a demand to him for my yet unpaid fee for committing to the '91 LA Marathon, a demand he has simply ignored. I may not have been his favorite athlete but any race director will confirm that I was under Glenn right through to 1997. In 1991 when I decided to take the Mazda offer I had been named Best Male on American Roads (?) by the race directors, I was a board member of ARRA, I had been called the best athlete to work with by the Reebok marketing people.”
Still, Brian says Glenn did make early attempts to contact Mazda regarding the yet unpaid fees, but those efforts were soon relinquished and though they maintained some contact through the years, around ’06 Glenn asked Brian to no longer involve him in the matter. “He told me not to bring him into my problem because it wouldn't look good for him as he was involved with US running.” In a final email response to me regarding Brian’s response, Glenn Latimer simply stated, its “Complete crap. Not remotely right.”, and requested, “Leave me out of this farce.”
Mark Bossardet was another person Brian turned to for help. Brian says Mark did try to help. “Mark Bossardet was the person who had a feeling I could get cheated in Japan. He directly warned me of that possiblity and advised me to have every document in duplicate and to have Mazda write everything they said to me. The result is I have all the evidence.”
Mark would send a letter to Mazda reminding them that they were obligated to honor the contract by law. “But nothing ever came from it”. Reebok’s legal team, including the lady who handled the Mazda offer, remembered the deal but weren’t able to locate Brian’s file. She said they were not obligated to retain documents after a few years. Brian asked her to state that his contract from Reebok was very clear - a third party offer during the contract period must come through Massachusetts law. He says she never did it. His final request to Mark was the week Mark left Reebok for Fila. The response letter only said, "Sorry, can't help you. - Mark.” The letter “left me weak in the knees” Brian says.
Mark Plaatjes, who accompanied Brian to Steve Bosley's house back in Boulder during the negotiations for advice on the deal, IRS details, and international finance rules, did the most of any body to help him. But Brian says Mark has not replied any of his letters for about four years now. “I feel like an unwelcome guest...”.
“I came to Japan because it would have given me a six month opportunity to study the Japanese market. Reebok in fact had said they had the door open for me to return when the deal was over. The only thing that's astray here is that Mazda never honored their side of the deal, a deal they proposed to me. I am only trying to collect my money and move on with my life. The running establishment in the US was ready to mobilize for Mama Wolde of Ethiopia, a man who had butchered many people...
They were willing to mobilize the US based athletes to persuade the IOC and IAAF to allow South African athletes to compete in the US during apartheid. In fact it turned out to be a scam only designed for one agent's athletes. My name went on to the document and I've been a pariah in my country since - 1987.
I thought I had friends. Friends would never ask me, "Why are you still there?" when I've been repeating that they're holding my money and my country hostage. If I walk out they will have me killed. If I can shame them then I will be able to collect and walk away.”
“I was one of the first foreigners to have my stuff down in writing and able to seek help... the problem is that the audacity of the scam and fraud was so unimaginable that nobody wanted to even try to look into my claims.
A US ex-major leaguer was caught out in a similar scam last year when the Orix Buffalos had him sign an agreement and when he arrived in Japan they simply switched entire pages...
The Fukyoka Softbank Hawks realized what had happened when the player insisted that the contract was not the one he'd signed. Japan baseball allowed the Hawks to offer him a different deal. My only problem is I have no foreign media asking Mazda to honor the contract. All I need is a direct request to Mazda. They cheated two Samoan rugby players in 1996/7. They didn't pay the agreed amount and had them work in the factory for no pay - just like they did to me (but I was in the HQ). The two guys had their agent write a direct request for Mazda to honor the contract. I was asked to explain to the agent that Mazda had made a mistake and the money would be paid. It was paid.
Justice for me will only come through outside direct interest to Mazda and perhaps to the JAAF and JOC. Names have to be mentioned as I mentioned them on Let's run.
Do you know that none of the people I mentioned have even considered legal action against me?
If I can collect my fees and other unpaid money I will bring my family to the US.”
Much more yet to come including who Brian thinks brought his claims on Letsrun.com to Mazda's attention. (Hint- it's Nobby)
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