Globacom still interested in Super Eagles, Falcons

The sponsor of Nigeria’s national football teams, Globacom, says it remains committed to its support of the teams.

An official of the company who did not want to be named, told NEXTSPORTS while reacting to a media release on Tuesday from the Nigeria Football Federation announcing the end of the five-year sponsorship deal that existed between them, that Globacom has not turned its back on the sponsorship of the Super Eagles and other national teams.

Wrong move

Admitting that the contract it signed with the football federation in 2004 had run its course, the official took a swipe at the federation for its haste in going to the media with the announcement when both parties were still involved in negotiations for a new sponsorship deal.

“It was surprising to see them rushing to the media, indicating we are no longer sponsors of the national team. We had already started negotiating a new contract with them. Of course we had not reached agreement on a new deal but an offer was made by us. Now, if they found that offer unacceptable, the reasonable thing to do was to let us know and then wait to hear from us. The best option was not for them to go screaming in the media that we are no longer sponsors of the national teams,” the official said.

But in a telephone interview on Wednesday morning the federation’s spokesperson, Ademola Olajire, said the football house appreciates all the contribution of the telecommunications company but added that the federation is already looking in other directions for the sponsorship of the national teams.

No longer in the picture

Said Olajire: “Globacom is out of the picture. We have some other interested companies we are talking to right now”.

When asked if the contract didn’t include a clause giving Globacom the first option of refusal before the football body commences negotiations with other organisations, he simply retorted: “They are no longer in the scene.”

This development is not surprising. The past few weeks have witnessed a strain in the relations between the Sani Lulu-led football federation and Globacom, as both parties wrangled over claims of the payment or otherwise of the sponsorship money for the national teams by the telecommunications company.

The rumble began with claims by the federation that Globacom was in default of payment of the ₦150 million sponsorship money for 2009, an allegation the telecommunications company was quick to refute with Modele Sharafa-Yusuf, head of Sponsored Assets of Globacom, stating that the organisation had paid ₦80 million, representing over 50 per cent of the sponsorship amount.

Globacom, Nigeria’s second national carrier, signed a five-year agreement with the then Nigeria Football Association in December 2004 for exclusive sponsorship rights to all the national teams. The contract expired on Wednesday.