Tokyo Olympics: Puma To Sue Nigeria Over ‘Breach Of Contract’

Things might get messier for sport administrators in Nigeria as renowned sportswear company, Puma, moves to institute a legal action against Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).

The German kit maker will sue the board of the Federation for alleged breach of contract, Sunday Adeleye, the technical director of  factional AFN disclosed on Thursday.

Greenwhitegreen had reported that the sportswear company on Wednesday terminated the 4-year kits sponsorship contract with the federation, citing the failure of Nigerian athletes to wear the brand at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.

Speaking on Arise TV on Thursday, Adeleye said Puma will go to court because it had been sending documents from its legal to that effect.

Adeleye said the AFN warned the sport minister on the consequences of reneging on the contract with Puma, noting that such could dissuade other sportswear companies from doing business with Nigeria.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

The contract was signed on July 24, 2019, in Doha by the AFN board under Ibrahim Gusau and was expected to expire in 2022.

However, the $2.7 million has engendered crisis  in the top echelon of Nigeria’s sport body. The contract has put the AFN and the sport ministry on a collision course.

A section of the deal stated that Puma will supply kits to all age categories of the Nigerian athletics team for four years.

However, the contract has led to an ongoing legal tussle between the sports ministry and the factional board of AFN.

Consequently, the ministry failed to allow the Nigerian athletics team to don the Puma branded apparel at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, arguing that it’s “a subject of a criminal investigation.”

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