NFF: How a random design for Super Eagles jersey on social media almost ruined deal with Nike

NFF and Nike's relationship almost went sour over a design concept that trended on twitter.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) almost lost their sponsorship deal with sportswear giants Nike because of a random design for Super Eagles jersey on social media.

The NFF have been kitted by Nike since April 2015 with a new jersey to be unveiled for the Super Eagles ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

 

But this relationship almost went sour following a concept that caught many eyes on Twitter Nigeria.

Concept for NFF

In November 2017, Nigerian writer and designer, Andrew Randa unveiled his concept design of the Super Eagles jersey the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

 

The design which Randa unveiled via his Twitter account came in the home and away versions and impressed many Nigerians who started a campaign asking the NFF and Nike to adopt Randa’s concepts.

The designs had the Nike logo which infuriated the sportswear giants.

Nike angry

According to Shehu Dikko who is the second Vice President and Chairman of the NFF Marketing, Sponsorship and Television Advisory Committee, Nike were not happy with the use of their logo on the designs and even wanted to sue.

“We had to do a lot to repair that relationship after that, you can’t just go to the internet and design a jersey and place the logo banner on it," Dikko said at an NFF press conference at the Eko Hotels and Suites on Wednesday, January 17.

 

He also recalled that the NFF lost their former kit sponsorship deal with Adidas because of breaches like this.

“At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, they saw unauthorised Super Eagles jerseys that had their logo,” Dikko added.

The NFF, Nike partnership is blossoming with a new jersey to be unveiled in London in February.

Since the NFF and Nike partnership in 2015,  three different jerseys have been used so far.

Nike, NFF relationship

NFF and Nike first launched one for the Flying Eagles in May 2015 and another for the Nigeria U-23 team ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games which was made available for the Super Eagles for their 3-1 win over Algeria in a FIFA World Cup qualifiers in November 2016.

 

The Super Eagles of Nigeria, however, used a new jersey for their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Algeria on Friday, November 10 and the friendly game against Argentina on Tuesday, November 14.

It was to the surprise of many that the Super Eagles were in a new strip different from the one they had used in the last 12 months.