Businessday reports that South African Football Association (Safa) CEO Leslie Sedibe confirmed yesterday that sports equipment and apparel manufacturers Puma would be unveiled as the new sponsors of Bafana Bafana, which will be decked out in the new strip when they host Burkina Faso on February 9.
After their 12-year relationship with Adidas ended acrimoniously last month , Safa appeared to be struggling to secure a replacement and faced the embarrassing possibility of having to go back to the German company for a jersey handout before the Burkina Faso encounter. But Sedibe insisted yesterday that this would not happen.
"The preferred technical sponsor for the senior national team is Puma and negotiations are at an advanced stage," he said.
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"It is a very lucrative deal for South African football and all the other national teams.
"I can assure you that when Bafana play against Burkina Faso next month, they will be in the new Puma jerseys."
Sedibe said the delay in announcing the new sponsors was caused by negotiations with the government around the use of the Protea logo on the Puma kit. "But we have resolved the issues around the Protea and we now have a licence from the Department of Sport to put it in its rightful place on the front of the Bafana jersey. There are no problems now."
