Puma recently claimed that it has sponsored the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) “since March 2021.”
However, on Monday, June 21, the PFA issued a statement saying it “has not signed any [sponsorship] agreements with any party, despite receiving offers from several companies.”
Puma sponsors the Israeli Football Association (IFA), which includes clubs based in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) in violation of international law. In 2018, more than 200 Palestinian sports clubs launched a worldwide #BoycottPuma campaign. Reacting to the campaign’s impressive growth, a Puma official has admitted to a campaigner, “You are making our lives miserable.”
In a desperate attempt to undermine the growing boycott against it, Puma is again resorting to deception with its recent fabrication, which the PFA categorically refuted.
As leaked internal communications show, Puma is shamefully using information it knows to be false to reassure its own partners and brand ambassadors, who are rightly alarmed over its support for Israeli apartheid.
The PFA’s statement also confirms that any company wishing to sponsor it must first and foremost respect the PFA’s internationally recognised jurisdiction on all the OPT, including East Jerusalem.
Let’s intensify our #BoycottPuma campaign to end its complicity in Israeli apartheid.
Puma was caught lying...again!
In an attempt to counter the growing #BoycottPuma campaign, @Puma is claiming the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) joined #PumaFam in March.
Puma's FALSE claim: https://t.co/rbywJpisZO pic.twitter.com/6Q6cabEvPJ
— PACBI (@PACBI) June 24, 2021
Refuting @Puma's false claim, the PFA said it “has not signed any agreements with any party” and requires sponsors to respect its "internationally recognized jurisdiction" on the occupied Palestinian territory.
Something Puma clearly does not!https://t.co/xLDU5rzD6o#BoycottPuma pic.twitter.com/V4LqslAoKs
— PACBI (@PACBI) June 24, 2021
Facts: 1
Puma: 0
Shame on @Puma for once again resorting to deception to try to hide its support for illegal Israeli settlements.
Let’s intensify the #BoycottPuma campaign to end its complicity in Israeli apartheid. #InOurHands.
We're not #PumaFam!https://t.co/8FhvA4Gqus pic.twitter.com/PvTDePwOYg
— PACBI (@PACBI) June 24, 2021