Sports
$2.7m Kits: PUMA To Sue Nigeria For Breach Of Contract
German sportswear manufacturing giants, PUMA ,will sue the Athletics Federation of Nigeria and Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The sportswear manufacturer had terminated the four-year contract in a letter dated Wednesday, August 4, 2021, and signed by the company’s director Manuel Edlheimb.
Tidesports source gathered that the AFN under the leadership of Ibrahim Gusau had entered into a controversial $2.76m deal with Puma on July 24, 2019, in Doha.
The deal led to a major crisis that split the athletics body into two factions, with both Gusau and Adeleye accused of sidelining other members of the board during the signing of the deal.
The deal, signed by Gusau-led AFN, was due to expire in 2022.
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, silver medalists will get 5,000 while a bronze medal will fetch athletes wearing the PUMA apparel at the games $3,000.
PUMA said Nigeria breached provisions of the contract by not wearing the kits at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
This, the sportswear manufacturer, said is against clauses 9.2 and 7.3 of the Agreement.
Tidesports source also gathered that PUMA officials have got in touch with officials of Gusau-led AFN informing them of an intention to sue.
A source said that 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.”
The AFN First Vice President, Sunday Adeleye, confirmed this while appearing on Arise TV as a guest yesterday.
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.
“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 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 he would take responsibility for the termination of the contract, Adeleye said, “We should be awarded because we are patriotic. FG 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.”
It was learnt that several efforts were made to give the athletes the PUMA kits, including shipping bags of kits with 40 items each to Tokyo through the Nigerian Embassy in Japan but to no avail.
Tidesports source reports that the Department of State Security last year cleared Gusau and his vice president Sunday Adeleye over corruption allegations levelled against him by the sports ministry, The .
The sports in 2020 ministry petitioned the DSS over the AFN’s partnership deal with Puma to kit Nigeria’s track and field teams until 2023.
The DSS, in a response to the sports ministry’s petition titled “Re: Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (FMYSD), Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and Alhaji Shehu Gusau”, dated September 3, 2020, and signed on behalf of the Director General of the DSS by Bello Mustapha, was received on September 4, 2020 by the sports ministry.
The six-time African champions, who are yet to lose a game at the FIBA Women’s Afrobasket tournament since the semi-finals of the 2015 edition, continued their unbeaten run by dismissing the Rwandans in emphatic style at the Palais des Sports de Treichville in Abidjan, having won all four quarters of the clash by a score of 17-8, 28-17, 26-12, and 21-8 respectively.
Coach Rena Wakama’s side registered 70 field goal attempts and recorded 35 field goals made throughout the contest. The team also made a total of 44 rebounds, 25 assists, 14 steals and two blocks in the statement win.
Rwanda, on the other hand, put up 52 field goal attempts and managed just 15 field goals made. Total rebounds stood at a paltry 28, while they recorded 11 assists, nine steals, three blocks and a whopping 22 turnovers.
Top performers for Nigeria were Elizabeth Balogun, Victoria Macaulay, Murjanatu Musa, Ifunaya Okoro, and Amy Okonkwo, who all registered double-figure point hauls. Balogun scored a game-high 18 points and four rebounds, Macaulay had 13 points, Musa chipped in with 12 points and five rebounds, Okoro added 11 points, while Okonkwo contributed 10 points and four rebounds. Every member of the D’Tigress squad scored on the day, with new entrant Vera Ojenuwa registering four points in her debut for the national team.
Meanwhile, Rwanda’s best player on the day was Destiney Philoxy, who put up 11 points and four rebounds, while Keisha Hampton also reached double figures, scoring 10 points in the heavy defeat.
Nigeria will next face Mozambique in their second and final round-robin fixture on Monday, with a win enough to see the defending champions into the quarter-finals of the competition.
The event Consultant, Chief Okeyinka Matt, stated this yesterday at the football draw ceremony while addressing the press with the Deputy Chairman of the FEDUGAM Steering Committee and a Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Education, Olapade Suleyman.
Okeyinka emphasized that any agency caught using non-bonafide staff at the games would be summarily disqualified from the games.
“What’s the essence when you are bringing non-staff to come and compete with members of staff? It doesn’t make any reasonable argument. The idea of the game is to bring the staff together to unwind at the end of the day. So, in specific terms, any agency found infringing on the rules by the Organizing Committee would be sanctioned and the persons involved would be reported to their agencies,” Okeyinka warned.
His position was also reinforced by Suleyman, who noted that the engagement of mercenaries would be counter-productive to the set objective of the games, which was to promote interaction and love among the agencies and the Ministry of Education.
He warned agencies against the temptation of circumventing the directive, noting that doing that would be considered a great offence that would not be taken with levity.
Suleyman similarly assured that resources for organizing the games had been allocated by the Ministry of Education, while the Minister of Education Dr Tunji Alausa has personally signed a strongly worded letter to all the agencies of the ministry to ensure full participation.
“It has never happened. The highest used to be the Director Human Resources signing, but this time to show some commitment and level of commitment, that has been done,” Suleyman said.
FEDUGAM would hold from August 4-10, with the Minister of Education expected grace the opening ceremony billed for August 5.
Earlier Okeyinka said the purpose of FEDUGAM is to bring unity, synergy, and friendship among all the agencies of Federal Ministry of Education and by extension, keep the workforce fit and enable the discovery talents.
The first edition of the games was held in 2017 while the last edition was held in Bauchi.
Thirteen sports will be featured in Lafia, including football, where only six agencies Tetfund, National Commission of Colleges of Education (NCCE), National Teachers Institute (NTI), Ministry of Education, National University Commission (NUC) and National Library are participating.
The Atlas Lionesses led 2-0 at the break in Rabat through Ghizlane Chebbak’s fine curling effort and a scuffed shot from Sanaa Mssoudy.
But Esther Okoronkwo inspired the Nigeria after the break, pulling a goal back from the penalty spot in the 64th minute after Nouhaila Benzina handled Folamide Ijamilusi’s cross.
Nigeria had dubbed their campaign as ‘Mission X’, and President Bola Tinubu sent his congratulations to the squad in a video call after the match.
He hailed the side’s “spectacular” performance as one that exemplifies the “determination that defines the Nigerian spirit”.
“You have lifted our spirits. You are a pride to your generation,” Tinubu told the team.
“You have achieved the mission the nation dreamed of and prayed for. Nigeria celebrates you.”
Okoronkwo, who ended the tournament with two goals and six assists, said Nigeria’s approach had been “all or nothing” after the break.
“We knew we had to come up [with a] different strategy. We knew we needed to fight,” the forward said.
“We talked over it in the locker room [and said] we have to change the way we are playing. It just shows resilience in us.”
Former Super Falcon Desire Oparanozie, herself a four-time Wafcon winner, said her compatriots showed “the mentality of a champion”.
“I did not expect them to come back in that manner,” she told news men.
“I think the motivation for them would have been: ‘This cannot be the first time we’ll lose in a final’.
“Nigeria have been in the final 10 times and they’ve won all 10 times. That mental toughness and fight is something else.”
Morocco, meanwhile, will have to go back to the drawing board after losing a second successive Wafcon final on home soil.
The Atlas Lionesses had hired 2023 Women’s World Cup-winning coach Jorge Vilda in a bid to land their first continental title.
Forward Sakina Ouzraoui hopes the side can bounce back ahead of the 2026 edition, which will also be hosted in the North African kingdom.
“We don’t understand what happened, but Nigeria are a good team,” she told the news men.
“They knew how to change the game and that’s why they are the champions.
“It’s painful because we touched this cup with our hands, but not strongly enough.
“For sure we will come back stronger. We are Morocco, so for sure we will win this cup.”
The scorer of the Nigerian winner, Jennifer Echegini has said her Women’s Africa Cup of Nations-winning goal for Nigeria will remain a highlight to look back on for the rest of her career.
The 24-year-old midfielder swept home Esther Okoronkwo’s free-kick in the 88th minute to complete a stunning second-half comeback as the Super Falcons beat hosts Morocco 3-2.
“I’m just going to carry this moment close to me,” she told our source.
“If I’m ever doubting myself as a player, I just think of this to encourage me and give me confidence.
“It’s my first trophy I’ve ever won in my career, so definitely a memorable one that I’ll keep in my heart forever.”
A record-extending 10th continental title for the West Africans had looked a distant dream at half time, as goals from Ghizlane Chebbak and Sanaa Mssoudy put Morocco 2-0 up at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat.
But Okoronkwo pulled a goal back from the penalty spot midway through the half and then laid on two more goals in a compelling team display of mental strength.
“We’re 2-0 down in the final, it’s half-time, you absolutely have nothing to lose,” Echegini said.
“It’s either you play with fear and you lose the game or you put everything into the game and you hope you win – and we did so.”
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