Sportswear giant Puma ends sponsorship of Israel national team

Sportswear giant Puma is terminating its sponsorship agreement with Israel’s national football team.

The German firm insisted the decision to cut ties was made long before Hamas’s October 7 attack and the subsequent war in Gaza, but the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement described the move as a “win” for their cause.

From next year, Puma will no longer supply kits to Israel’s international sides having opted not to renew its contract with the Israel Football Association (IFA).

A spokesperson for the sportswear company told Reuters the decision was taken in 2022 as part of a new “fewer-bigger-better” sponsorship strategy and was not related to renewed calls for consumer boycotts as fighting rages in the Middle East.

However, the BDS movement said Puma had been “forced” to drop the sponsorship as a result of “tremendous pressure”.

There was no immediate reaction from the IFA.

The BDS movement has been calling for Puma to be boycotted since it signed the partnership with Israel in 2018 - demands which have intensified amid the recent fighting in Gaza.

Some of its stores have been targeted by protesters in recent weeks.

Activists have accused Puma of supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank — considered illegal by most of the international community — given the IFA includes clubs based in such settlements.

The Financial Times, which first revealed the news that Puma is ending its deal with the IFA, said the German company insists it only sponsors the national team and not “club-level activities”.

The firm, which will also end its sponsorship of Serbia’s national side in 2024, said it would announce a new partnership with a “statement team” later this month.

Puma was founded in 1948 by Rudolf “Rudi” Dassler, a member of the Nazi party.

The businessman was the older brother of Adolf Dassler, who founded fellow German sportswear giant Adidas a year later after the pair’s relationship deteriorated, leading to the dissolution of a jointly-owned firm and the creation of the two new companies.

Israel are currently 75th on Fifa’s international men’s rankings, between 74th-placed Oman and 76th-placed Honduras. The country has qualified for one World Cup in its history, in 1970, and has not reached a European Championship since becoming a Uefa member.