Puma Drops Sponsorship of Israel's National Soccer Team, Claims Decision 'Unrelated' To Palestinian Pressure 

Puma announced Tuesday that it is dropping its sponsorship of the Israel national soccer team by next year.

The decision drew attention this week as Puma has long been a target of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

However, Puma is adamant the pressure from the BDS movement and events in Gaza did not contribute to the decision to cut ties with the Israel Football Association.

Puma says it made the decision regarding the soccer team last year, before Oct. 7, the day Hamas organized a coordinated offensive on southern Israel by massacring 260 civilians at a music festival.

"While two newly signed national teams — including a new statement team — will be announced later this year and in 2024, the contracts of some federations such as Serbia and Israel will expire in 2024," a Puma spokesperson told the Financial Times.

Nonetheless, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)  claims it was the BDS movement that forced Puma's hand "over its support for Israeli apartheid oppressing millions of Palestinians." 

The PACBI released the following statement on Tuesday:

"The years of relentless, global BDS pressure on PUMA and the damage to its image should be a lesson to all companies supporting Israeli apartheid, that complicity has consequences.

"It is also a lesson to the deeply complicit, Western-dominated FIFA, which continues to shield Israel from accountability despite the settlement teams violating its own statutes."

The Israel Football Association rejected the PACBI's characterization of the decision, calling it "a pathetic attempt" to mislead the public.

We do, however, want to point out that while the Puma spokesperson said it dropped the Israel team as part of its "fewer-bigger-better strategy," the company also says it plans to announce a new partnership with a high-profile soccer team in the coming months.

So, for whatever reason, this does seem to be a case in which Puma chose to sponsor a different soccer team than the one it has in Israel.

Harvard President Claudine Gay Is A ‘Free Speech’ Hypocrite | Bobby Burack