PUMA said Nigeria breached provisions of its sponsorship contract because athletes did not wear its kits at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
This is following the German sports apparel manufacturer’s termination of its four-year sponsoring and licensing deal with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).
The sportswear manufacturer said failure of Nigeria to meet its end of the bargain is against clauses 9.2 and 7.3 of the Agreement.
It was gathered that athletes were given a single kit manufactured by Alfa Sports for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics despite Puma being the official partner supplying sufficient kits for the athletes but were left behind in Lagos.
The Punch reported that PUMA officials had got in touch with officials of Gusau-led AFN informing them of an intention to sue.
It reported that the sports ministry would be made a party to the suit “because they issued a memo granting AFN permission to seek sponsorship. PUMA sees AFN as a representative of Nigeria with that memo.”
“It gave them confidence that AFN had approval. They also claimed that as of the time of signing the contract, the parties involved are recognised by law and FG, and there was no faction to warrant suspicion. They believe an administration is a continuum and the agreement has government backing.”
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The AFN First Vice President, Sunday Adeleye, confirmed this while appearing on Arise TV as a guest on Thursday.
Adeleye showed evidence and documents showing the government’s approval for the federation to seek a sponsor.
He said, “The contract is a non-disclosure one. It is between PUMA and AFN with FMYSD’s permission. We warned that this may lead to litigation and wrote to all parties involved, including finance and justice ministries.
“We are sure that PUMA will go to court on this matter. Their officials have called that they are sending documents from their legal department. We wrote the minister on the implications for Nigeria. This won’t make other companies deal with Nigeria.”
