Puma to end its sponsorship of Israel’s national football team
PUMA has been the target of a worldwide BDS campaign over its support for Israeli apartheid.
The news agency “AFP” reported, that the sportswear company did not make its decision amid the Israeli operations in Gaza.
Rather, the strategy was reviewed at the end of 2022, after which it was decided that Puma would not make kits for the Israeli team from next year.
A Puma spokesperson in a statement said that both major teams have signed deals that will be announced this year and in 2024 because contracts with teams like Israel and Serbia are to expire in 2024.
On the other hand, social media users laud the German company’s decision. Several users shared the opinion that the decision was taken amid the ongoing boycott calls against the companies that support business with Israel.
OMFGG THIS IS HUGEE. PUMA IS ONE OF THE NAMES TO BOYCOTT IN THE ORIGIAL BDS LIST.
AND THEY DID IT. https://t.co/Cbm9YEeLOM
— Faizan 🇵🇸 (@thoraoffbeat) December 12, 2023
However, the boycott efforts against Puma stem from its contract with the IFA since 2018, with activists criticising the IFA’s inclusion of teams based in Jewish-only settlements in the occupied West Bank, considered illegal under international law.
BREAKING: Puma has announced it is dropping its sponsorship of the Israel Football Association, including the national soccer team.
Puma has long been a target of a Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign for sponsoring teams in illegal settlements.pic.twitter.com/mUahxcDmHD
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) December 12, 2023
In BDS win, @PUMA forced to drop sponsorship of Israel Football Association.
PUMA has been the target of a worldwide BDS campaign over its support for Israeli apartheid. The IFA governs and advocates to maintain teams in illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land. pic.twitter.com/7pluWJar3J
— PACBI – BDS movement (@PACBI) December 12, 2023
