By Enitan Abdultawab
Former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Amaju Pinnick has explained the circumstances surrounding the exit of sportswear giants Adidas and Puma from Nigerian football, alleging that the actions of some Nigerians contributed to the breakdown of the relationships.
Pinnick made the disclosure during an interview with former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh on the YouTube programme, The Pinnick Tapes (Remastered): NFF Scandals EXposed.
He recalled that Adidas had indicated its intention to end its relationship with the NFF shortly after he assumed office, a decision that left him surprised.
“I was utterly flabbergasted when I got the letter from Adidas. A few weeks or a few months into my being NFF president, they were leaving,” Pinnick said.
He said he travelled to Zurich to meet the company’s president and attempted to convince Adidas to reconsider its decision, but his efforts were unsuccessful.
Pinnick explained that he later discovered that several issues had influenced the sportswear company’s decision, although he declined to publicly disclose details that could implicate individuals.
“It was later I found out so many things that are, you know, that I cannot come out in the media to say. I don’t like indicting people,” he said.
According to the former NFF boss, the sponsorship crisis extended beyond Adidas, as several other major companies were either withdrawing from Nigerian football or signalling their intention to do so.
“When we came on, Globacom was leaving, Adidas had left, General Insurance had left, Guinness—they wrote us that they were leaving,” he said.
Pinnick said he subsequently attempted to establish a relationship with Puma but encountered an unexpected setback when he met the company’s top executive during the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.
He alleged that the executive was initially reluctant to speak with him after learning that he was Nigerian.
“I was introduced to the head of Puma. The head of Puma meant he understood that I was a Nigerian, not even as president of anything at that point. He didn’t want to talk to me,” Pinnick recalled.
He said the Puma executive eventually explained why he had developed a negative perception of Nigeria, recounting an alleged incident involving three Nigerians who visited his home on Christmas Day.
Pinnick claimed the men told the executive they could abandon an existing Adidas deal but attached certain demands to the proposal.
“He told me a story about how three Nigerians came to his house on a Christmas Day to tell him, ‘We can jettison the contract we have with Adidas, but this is what we wanted.’
“And from there on, he made up his mind never ever to have anything to do with Nigeria. He blacklisted Nigeria,” Pinnick said.
He did not name the three Nigerians or reveal the demands they allegedly made.
Despite the setbacks, Pinnick said the experience motivated him to secure another major international sportswear partner for the Super Eagles.
“But that was when I made up my mind that Adidas gone, Puma gone, we will definitely get the best,” he said.
He recalled travelling to the United States and the Netherlands while pursuing a new kit sponsorship deal, eventually securing an agreement with Nike.
“And that’s where I went to my room and I prayed and I said, ‘God, give us Nike.’
“It was a tough call, but eventually we got Nike,” Pinnick said.
The former NFF president also dismissed suggestions that his administration was responsible for a decline in the federation’s sponsorship fortunes.
“When I was president of NFF, no sponsors left me. I brought in sponsors. I went from zero to almost 80% of self-funding,” he said.
Pinnick added that the figures could be verified through the NFF’s audited accounts prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
His comments formed part of a wider discussion with Oliseh on the challenges facing Nigerian football, including the country’s failure to qualify for the 2022 and 2026 FIFA World Cups, unpaid salaries involving coaches and players, political interference and broader structural problems within the sport.
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