How politics and infighting cost Nigeria billions of naira on Olympics Kits deal

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics came to an end on Sunday after two weeks of thrilling action as more than 11,600 athletes competed for glory. At the closing ceremony held in Tokyo’s Olympic stadium no spectator was allowed inside. This was also the case throughout the games as the coronavirus pandemic loomed large over the competition.
For team Nigeria, it was an Olympic to forget for many reasons. Prominent among them is the botched kits sponsorship deal from German sportswear manufacturing company Puma.
A picture shared by the team after the visit of the Nigerian ambassador to Japan, Abubakar Moriki, to the team’s camp, showed many of the athletes and officials dressed in different attires, with one of the officials wearing an Arsenal jersey. Many other videos shared by Nigerian athletes in Japan also showed them in different sportswear like Nike and Adidas.
This embarrassing development gained momentum after one of the athletes Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, who competed in the shot-put event, shared a video of himself washing his jersey for the next round of his outing, when he should have been preparing for the competition.
The expectations of sports loving Nigerians were dashed as a result of infighting between the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and Ministry of Youth and Sports development. The Ministry turned down the Puma Kits deal secured by a faction of the AFN over what it termed as a contravention of the Sports Federation Code.
In July 2019, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) under the leadership of Shehu Gusau had agreed a $2.76 million (about N1.2bn) deal with Puma in Doha, Qatar. It was however alleged that both Gusau and Sunday Adeleye (vice president) did not carry the sports along during the negotiations and signing of the deal.
Obviously, this did not go down well with the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development led by Sunday Dare, and he stopped Team Nigeria athletes from using the Puma kits at the Olympics. The ministry insisted that the deal contravened Article 4.4.2 of the National Sports Federations Code of Governance 2017.
The ministry in a statement insists that before Nigeria’s athletes are allowed to wear any brand, it must be privy to any signed agreement.
“It is common knowledge that the former AFN president, Ibrahim Shehu Gusau, with his co-travelers, is desperate to extricate himself from a contract that he controversially signed the AFN into, which has now placed him in a position of trying to blackmail Team Nigeria into wearing the kits,” Dare said in a statement.
“The minister and the ministry will not commit the Nigerian government and Nigerian athletes to a deal in which the ministry has not sighted the contractual documents that ties Nigerian athletes to a five year contract with Puma.”
He further explained how Ibrahim Gusau has conveniently neglected to tell Nigerians that he and Sunday Adeleye signed a non-disclosure agreement with Puma, with the details unknown to the Ministry and board members of the AFN. This is coming after the Department of State Services (DSS) had cleared Shehu-Gusau and his vice president Sunday Adeleye of any criminality.
A section of the deal obtained by our correspondent states that Puma will supply kits to all age categories of Nigeria’s athletics team for four years. The contract also includes monetary rewards for Nigerian athletes who wear the sportswear during medal presentations at the Olympics games; gold medalists: $15,000, silver medalists: $5,000, and bronze medal: $3,000.
In the midst of the mêlée, the German sportswear manufacturing company, Puma, announced the termination of their kits contract with the AFN, citing “recent developments at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.”
In a statement signed by Manuel Edlheimb, PUMA’s Director, the merchandise company said it ended its sponsoring agreement and had further discharged from any or all obligations towards all stakeholders involved and reserves all rights against these entities and individuals.
“We are referring to the licensing and sponsoring agreement signed between our company and your federation.
“As a direct consequence of the recent developments, particularly at the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 and pursuant to clauses 9.2 and 7.3 of the Agreement, we hereby terminate the Agreement with immediate effect.
“PUMA especially declares to be discharged from any or all obligations towards all stakeholders involved and reserves all rights against these entities and individuals.
Former president of the AFN, Dan Ngerem, says Nigeria risks being blacklisted by major international sportswear manufacturers over the impasse. “I advised them to handle the Puma deal with care because you cannot embarrass an international brand like Puma and think you can run to another tomorrow,” Ngerem stated.