Anguish as NFF enters into ‘another secret, slavery kits’ sponsorship deal

Anguish as NFF enters into ‘another secret, slavery kits’ sponsorship deal By Admin After several questions raised by millions of Nigerians to know the details of the sponsorship deal between the Nigeria Football Federation and American kit company, NIKE, signed four years ago, till this moment no one from the Amaju Pinnick led NFF has come out to state what the deal entails. In this regards, football lovers in some quarters concluded that the NFF is run as a 'Personal Property'. As at Tuesday when the new four years deal was sealed, no one knows what was in the documents signed four years ago between the two parties. Worse still, the Secretary General of the NFF Dr Sanusi Mohammed was not present neither during the first deal (4 years ago) nor the second Nike deal on Tuesday. Till this moment, the details of the deal particularly monetary value attached to it, is still unknown to the public, and one may ask, why all this secrecy? In a press release by the NFF Media Department which reads; "NFF Officials with representatives leading sportswear company, NIKE on Tuesday in Asaba, capital of Delta State, signed what they described as a new, robust partnership agreement. "American kit company NIKE had teamed up with the Nigeria Football Federation in April 2015 following the departure of another global brand, but Tuesday’s contract is seen by both parties as the real deal. "The agreement is for four years at the first instance, with an automatic renewal clause that will take the marriage to the end of the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals. Despite a somewhat coated description by the communications department of the Nation’s soccer body, NFF executive board led by Amaju Pinnick has again refused to disclose details of the contract, just as they did, some four years ago. Up till the time the current contract was entered into, Nigerians hardly accessed the jersey of Super Eagles or that of any other National team. Super Falcons and other age-grade teams including Uner-23, U20 and U17 teams for both Men and Women mostly train with personal clothing, a situation many have described as a bizarre circumstance in the history of Nigeria’s football. Just before the ongoing African Women Cup of Nations kicked off in Ghana, Nigeria’s Super Falcons left the shores of the country with their personal clothes. It is imperative to state here that continued none disclosure of the benefits and full details of the agreement will rekindle suspicions in some quarters over management of funds under the current leadership of NFF.