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British-Nigerian sports journalist, Osasu Obayiuwana, has revealed the
disturbing reason behind the collapse of the sports sponsorship deal
between Nigeria and German sports brand, Puma in 2015
Amaju Pinnick, NFF President
When the developing sporting deal between the Nigeria Football
Federation and the German multinational company, Puma collapsed in
April, 2015 during the negotiation stage, the reason was officially
attributed to the leadership instability of the football regulating
body.
Recent revelations by an international journalist and native of Edo
State, Osasu Obayiuwana points at the weighty allegation that corrupt
practices among top officials of the NFF could have collapsed the
lucrative deal.
The sensitive information was revealed to Mr. Osasu by an unnamed Puma official he met in Gabon for the 2017 AFCON competition.
According to the official, Puma was willing to partner with Nigeria
but the business deal failed after some helmsmen of the NFF demanded
for a whooping 50% of the sporting deal as kickback as against the
ethics of the company.
It would be recalled that an official of the Nigeria Football
Federation had revealed that Puma rejected to sponsor Nigeria's national
teams before a deal with Nike was signed.
The NFF in April, 2015 sealed a three-year-deal with sports giant
Nike after their contract with Adidas expired in December, 2014.
But the NFF marketing committee chairman, Emeka Inyama had
revealed that Puma rejected the chance to become the kit sponsors of the
country's national teams.
“Puma turned down the chance to sponsor the Eagles and so it is
the right step in the right direction that Nike came in after the
Adidas contract ended,” Inyama is quoted by the Nation Newspaper to have said.
“Puma’s reluctance may not be far fetched because no reputable
organisation wants to partner with you when your administration is not
stable. You know the crisis we went through before now, the world is a
global village and these things are known world wide.”
Read the exposing tweets of Mr. Osasu as posted earlier today, 17th of January, 2016 about the scandal:
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