By Mark Baber
February 19 – Nike has won plaudits for ending its relationship with Manny Pacquiao, but its ongoing sponsorship of Nigerian football shows its apparently principled stand against homophobia is little more than a marketing device.
Manny Pacquiao’s comment that homosexuals are “worse than animals,” led to an outcry in the Philippines, leading the boxer/politician to apologise on Tuesday for “comparing homosexuals to animals.”
On Wednesday, Nike issued a statement saying: “We find Manny Pacquiao’s comments abhorrent. Nike strongly opposes discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting and standing up for the rights of the LGBT community. We no longer have a relationship with Manny Pacquiao.”
The statement was welcomed by basketball legend Magic Johnson, who tweeted, “I applaud Nike for terminating Manny Pacquiao’s contract after his derogatory statements that gay people are worse than animals.”
But if we look at the timeline of Nike’s relationship with the Nigerian Football Federation, it is difficult to escape the conclusion Nike’s opposition to discrimination is secondary to marketing considerations:
February 2011: Nigeria National Team’s then coach Eucharia Uche appointed FIFA football instructor.
March 2011 Uche makes homophobic remarks to The Daily Sun which quotes an NFF former technical assistant who says some players were removed from the Nigerian team “not because they were not good players, but because they were lesbians.”
June 2011: Uche tells the New York Times: “Yes, the lesbians in our team were really a big problem. But since I’m coach of the Super Falcons, that has been cleared up. There are no more lesbian players on my team. I cannot tolerate this dirty life.”
September 2011: Media reports that FIFA have launched an investigation into Uche’s remarks. (No reports of action taken).
March 2013: Chairman of the Nigeria Women Football League (Since January 2011) and member of the NFF Executive Committee Dilichukwu Onyedinma interviewed saying: “Yeah, we don’t tolerate lesbianism and we always discuss it whenever we meet. We always warn clubs and club chairmen, to please tell their players to desist from it, because any player that we pick for national competitions, and we hear a little story that is involved in that, we disqualify the player.”
March 2013: Media reports FIFA have written to NFF about discrimination denied by NFF spokesperson.
October 2014: Onyedinma appointed vice-Chair of the NFF Committee of Ethics and Fair Play as well as member of the Football Committee and Chair of Women’s Committee.
December 2014: Adidas sponsorship contract with Nigeria expires at end of year and not renewed.
April 2015: Nike partners with the Nigeria Football Federation until 2018, refusing to comment on how they can justify sponsoring an organisation which has a homophobe as Deputy Chair of its Committee on Ethics and Fair Play.
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