BDS renews calls to boycott Puma over Israeli football sponsorship

The pro-Palestinian organisation Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) has renewed calls on Saturday for the boycott of the sports brand Puma for sponsoring the Israeli Football Association (IFA).

This is BDS’ sixth boycott campaign against the German manufacturer since 2018.

BDS’s wrote several tweets detailing Puma’s role in Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands, using the hashtag #boycott_puma in English and Arabic.

عام 2018، انطلقت حملة مقاطعة "بوما" من فلسطين!

بعد رسالة من أكثر من 200 نادٍ رياضي فلسطينيّ تطالب الشركة بإنهاء رعايتها لاتحاد كرة القدم الإسرائيليّ، الذي يضم فرقاً تابعة لأندية مستعمرات إسرائيلية.https://t.co/Tp1qZ4gKbK#قاطعوا_بوما حتى تنهي رعايتها للاستعمار
#BoycottPuma pic.twitter.com/O3pGqAmZZS

— حركة مقاطعة اسرائيل (@BDS_Arabic) February 12, 2022

The movement said that the goal of the campaign was to "pressure [Puma] to end its complicity with the settler colonial and apartheid regime, which commits crimes that make the lives of our Palestinian people miserable".

"The company has an opportunity to retract its flawed position that is complicit in violations of the rights of the Palestinian people, as its contract with the Israeli Football Association expires in June 2022," BDS said.

The group also highlighted that several Israeli football clubs were "built on stolen land".

There was no statement from Puma on the boycott campaign.

#قاطعوا_بوما#BoycottPuma pic.twitter.com/BZpVC7gYU1

— حركة مقاطعة اسرائيل (@BDS_Arabic) February 12, 2022

The call for a boycott against the sports footwear and sports apparel brand began in 2018, when more than 200 Palestinian sports clubs signed a letter calling on the company to end its sponsorship of the Israeli Football Association.

The campaign was previously successful, resulting in Qatar Sports Club refusal to renew its contract with the sports brand in June 2021.

Malaysia’s biggest university, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) also decided to discontinue its deal with Puma in 2020, according to BDS’ website.

UiTM, which had a three-year contract with Puma as sponsor of the university’s football team, confirmed that the contract was not renewed due to Puma’s involvement in "Israel’s human rights abuses".

In September, several protesters across 50 cities around the world demonstrated in front of Puma’s flagships shops, as well as regular sports shops in support of the BDS’ boycott campaign.