I was not fired, says Seagobin
published: Tuesday | January 4, 2005

By Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer

TRACK & FIELD agent Cubie Seagobin has refuted claims that he was fired by coach Stephen Francis as the representative for his two top athletes, Asafa Powell and Brigitte Foster.

Instead, Seagobin said it was he who decided on quitting as agent for the Maximising Velocity and Power (MVP) track club's Jamaican star athletes.

In a report carried in The Gleaner yesterday, Francis, the head coach of MVP, said Seagobin was no longer the representative for his athletes as "... we are essentially looking for somebody who will enthusiastically develop our young athletes and we figured my changing it would serve that purpose.

REASON FOR SWITCH

"The direction Cubie was going was not really emphasising that, so that is the reason, not the least on our part, for the switch," Francis continued.

However, Seagobin was quoted in the media yesterday as saying: "About a month ago coach Francis (Stephen) presented me with some terms for my remaining, managing MVP group, of which I declined to agree."

He also stated that Francis could not have fired him as there wasn't any written agreement between himself and the track club.

"There was never a written contract, it was a verbal agreement," he explained.

MVP ATHLETES

Top Jamaican athletes Asafa Powell, the world's number one ranked 100m runner and World Championship silver medallist, Brigitte Foster, were the MVP athletes whom Seagobin represented.

The Guyanese-born agent also said "no athlete has informed me that they have fired me" and charged that he had not entered into the agreement to develop any other MVP athletes besides Powell and Foster.

He said: "I was never in charge of developing anybody else.

"If we are talking about developing athletes, I think I would have developed those (Powell and Foster) ... I think anybody who knows about athletics knows about my reputation and will know that is totally true."

Seagobin also manages other top Jamaican athletes, such as Aleen Bailey, Michael McDonald, Michael Blackwood, Beverley McDonald and World Championship 100m gold medallist Kim Collins of St. Kitts & Nevis.