German sportswear manufacturing titan, PUMA, wants to sue the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The development happens as the sportswear manufacturer cancelled a four-year contract it had with Nigeria in a letter dated Wednesday, August 4, 2021, and signed by Puma’s director, Manuel Edlheimb.
Reports have it that the AFN under Ibrahim Gusau’s leadership entered into a controversial $2.76 million deal with PUMA on July 24, 2019, in Doha, Qatar.
The deal brewed a major crisis that divided the athletics body into two factions, with Gusau and the first Vice President of AFN, Sunday Adeleye who was accused of sidelining other board members during the signing of the deal.
The deal was signed by the Gusau-led AFN and was due to expire in 2022. However, part of the contract is that PUMA will supply apparel to every age category to Nigeria’s Athletics team for four years free of charge.
Also, gold medalists at the Olympic Games would earn $15,000 (N6 million), silver medalists would receive $5,000 (N2 million) while bronze medalists that wear PUMA apparel at the games will receive $3,000 (N1.2 million).
In the recent development, PUMA officials have contacted officials of Gusau-led AFN and informed them of an intention to sue.
According to a source that Punch quoted, the Ministry of Sports 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..”
Adeleye confirmed this while appearing on Arise TV as a guest recently.
While showing evidence and documents revealing the FG’s approval for the AFN 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.
“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.”
Also, he argued that Gusau-led AFN did all that was possible to make sure that Nigeria’s image is protected.
While talking about 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.”
When 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.
“We worked with instruction. We looked for a sponsor so that the burden can be taken off the Federal Government. The sports ministry should be sanctioned. We need a shake-up in the sports ministry.
“The problem is the minister and sports ministry under his administration. Our problems have never been this worse. Federations have issues but not to this extend. Despite a court order, the minister is resolute in destroying some people. We gave the kits out, the ministry said they were not going to use the kits.”
