August 05, (THEWILL) – Coming on the heels of the embarrassing viral video of Nigerian shot-putter Chukwuebuka Enekwechi laundering his own jersey in preparation for the final of his event as he was provided with only one, Sportswear manufacturing giant Puma on Wednesday officially terminated its sponsorship contract with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).
This decision was disclosed to the AFN in an official statement from the German company that read, in part: “We are referring to the Sponsoring & Licensing Agreement (the “Agreement”) signed between our Company and your Federation.
“As a direct consequence of the recent developments, particularly at the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020, and pursuant to Clauses 9.2 and 7.3 of the Agreement, we hereby terminate the Agreement with immediate effect.”
THEWILL had addressed this culmination of the scandalous leadership crises at the sports administrative body in the country in an editorial where THEWILL noted that the kits which were meant for the Games and arrived on June 13 to enable athletes have their equipment before the June 23 commencement had become the subject of factional powerplay.
This was because the contract was part of an agreement entered into by factional AFN President, Ibrahim Gusau at Doha in 2019, and the newly elected president with the support of the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development, Chief Tonobok Okowa and his administration wanted no part in the deal.
A senior official at the Federation had gone as far as to posit that Nigerian athletes will not use the Puma kits as they are subjects of a police investigation levelled against Gusau’s administration.
All these were at the instance of the German company’s decision to cut off their $2.7 million kits sponsorship contract with the AFN and leave the deal especially after it became conflict-ridden with the factions declaring that there was or was not enough accountability in the contract details.
THEWILL had cautioned against such divisive tendencies at so close a time to the Games, stating how detrimental it was that “available kits and equipment cannot be used because there is no love lost between factions fighting selfish battles.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
