PUMA may slam N1.1b lawsuit on AFN for breach of contract

German kits manufacturers, PUMA may sue the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) for breach of the 2019 partnership deal signed in Doha to kit Nigeria’s track and field teams till 2023.

PUMA had in a letter on February 13, 2020 confirmed it signed an agreement on July 24, 2019 with Messrs Ibrahim Gusau and Sunday Adeleye to sponsor the team and that it has met all its financial obligations to the federation which amounted to $2.76m (N1.1bn).

However, with few days to the 2020 Olympics, Daily Trust has gathered reliably that Team Nigeria Athletics will not don the already supplied PUMA kits and this may cause the company to trigger a clause in the contract for refund of N1.1b.

A document sighted by our reporter states clearly that in case of breach of the contract, the AFN shall pay PUMA liquidated damage of 100% of the total sponsorship value which would otherwise be payable in respect of the contract years in which the violation occurred.

In the same vein, a top source in the Ministry of Sports told our reporter that Team athletics will not don the PUMA kits because the deal was signed with the previous board.

“For all teams, there is a national jersey which was unveiled but again, some federations have agreements with some individual bodies like Nike and PUMA.

“They are free to use such kits for trainings and all that but the home made jerseys unveiled will be used for competitions.

“Moreover, the agreement with PUMA was signed with the past board and not the current one,” the source said.

It will be recalled that the ‘factional’ president, Engr Ibrahim Gusau last month took delivery of a consignment of kits from PUMA International for its athletes and officials ahead of the Tokyo Olympics starting on July 23.

The consignment, consisting of tracksuits, vests, shoes, backpacks, wheel bags, face masks, and other items, worth millions of naira was delivered on June 13 and was received by Gusau in the United Arab Emirates.

PUMA is the third largest sportswear manufacturer in the world.