PUMA, the globally renowned German sportswear manufacturing giant, plans to sue the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The development comes as the sportswear manufacturer terminated a four-year contract it had with Nigeria in a letter dated Wednesday, August 4, 2021, and signed by the company’s director, Manuel Edlheimb.
According to reports, the AFN under the leadership of Ibrahim Gusau had entered into a controversial $2.76 million deal with PUMA on July 24, 2019, in Doha, Qatar.
The deal reportedly led to a major crisis that split the athletics body into two factions, with Gusau and AFN First Vice President, Sunday Adeleye accused of sidelining other members of the board during the signing of the deal.
The deal, signed by the Gusau-led AFN, was due to expire in 2022, Punch reports.
Part of the contract is that PUMA will supply apparel to all age categories to Nigeria’s Athletics team for four years at no cost.
In addition, gold medalists at the Olympic Games will earn $15,000 (N6 million), silver medalists will get $5,000 (N2 million) while a bronze medal will fetch athletes wearing the PUMA apparel at the games $3,000 (N1.2 million).
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In the latest development, PUMA officials have got in touch with officials of Gusau-led AFN informing them of an intention to sue.
According to a source quoted by Punch, 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..”
This was confirmed by the AFN First Vice President, Adeleye while appearing on Arise TV as a guest on Thursday.
While displaying evidence and documents showing the FG’s approval for the federation to seek a sponsor, Adeleye 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.
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“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.”
He also argued that Gusau-led AFN did everything possible to ensure that the image of the country is protected.
On why the kits were kept in a store, he said, “Our AFN has been barred from using the facility in the stadium and we needed to run the activities of the association. We have a store and office that we run. The constitution didn’t say our office should be in the stadium.”
Asked if he would take responsibility for the termination of the contract, Adeleye said, “We should be awarded because we are patriotic. The Federal Government asked federations to look for sponsors (before Sunday Dare). This contract precedes him. They are aware of the contract.”
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