‘He blacklisted Nigeria’ - Pinnick explains how Puma's sponsorship deal with Super Eagles was sabotaged

Pinnick was appointed as the president of the NFF in October 2014 and led the body until he left in October 2022.

The FIFA Organising Committee member oversaw the in runnings of the Super Eagles team, including sponsorship deals.

However, upon his arrival, he explained that he met a lot of unsolved issues, especially losing Adidas, who were the Super Eagles' sponsors.

Speaking on Sunday Oliseh's "Global Football Insights" show, Pinnick reveals the challenges he faced getting a new sponsor for the national team.

“Then I went to the Nations Cup 2015 in Equatorial Guinea. I was privileged to be sitting with the former president Ayatu and I was appealing to him to appeal to Puma because I was introduced to the head of Puma. 

“He understood that I was a Nigerian, not even as president of anything at that point; he didn't want to talk to me, he said no, I'm not going to talk to them. 

“Nigerians are, I don't want to use the word he used, a very extreme and I didn't like it, but I just kept my cool the next day, he now decided he wanted to talk to me, told I should sit down.

“The old man told me a story about how three Nigerians came to his house on Christmas day to tell him that we can get the contract we have with Adidas, but this is what we wanted. 

“And that from then on, he made up his mind never to have anything to do with Nigeria. He blacklisted Nigeria. 

“But that was when I made up my mind that Adidas has gone, we'll definitely get the best. 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.”

In other news, former Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick has firmly opened up on his plans for Glass House.