Why sportswear giants Adidas, Puma dumped Nigeria — Pinnick

Former Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick has shed light on why major sportswear companies Adidas and Puma ended their commercial ties with Nigerian football. According to Pinnick, an incident involving three Nigerians led to the country being blacklisted by these giants, causing the latter to sever commercial relationships with Nigerian football. This revelation came during the latest episode of "The Pinnick Tapes" (Remastered) on Oliseh's YouTube channel, Global Football Insights With Oliseh.

Pinnick revealed that he was initially surprised by Adidas' decision to leave shortly after he became NFF president. He decided to travel to Zurich to meet the company's president and persuade them to reconsider, but his efforts proved unsuccessful. Pinnick discovered that several factors had influenced Adidas' decision, although he declined to disclose certain details, citing his desire to avoid publicly indicting individuals.

The sponsorship crisis worsened as other major companies, such as Globacom, General Insurance, and Guinness, also indicated their intentions to leave or had already left Nigerian football. Pinnick attempted to establish a relationship with Puma, but initially faced resistance from the company's top executive. This executive, who learned that Pinnick was Nigerian, recounted an alleged incident involving three Nigerians who had visited his home on Christmas Day, demanding to be released from an existing Adidas contract but with their own demands. Pinnick said that the executive subsequently blacklisted Nigeria due to these demands.

Despite these setbacks, Pinnick remained determined to secure a new major international kit sponsor for the Super Eagles. He traveled to the United States and the Netherlands, eventually succeeding in attracting Nike as the federation's new kit sponsor. Pinnick also rejected claims that his administration presided over a continuous loss of sponsors, arguing that he had increased the federation's commercial revenue. According to him, he went from zero sponsors to nearly 80% self-funding during his tenure.