The Panama Football Federation (FEPAFUT) has signed its second major commercial deal in the space of a week after becoming US sportswear company New Balance’s first national team partner.
Under the terms of the multi-year deal, New Balance will provide kit to all Panama’s national teams. The firm will provide its first kit to FEPAFUT for Panama’s campaign in the 2015 Fifa Under-20 World Cup, which takes place in New Zealand from May 30 to June 20.
New Balance took the decision to enter the football market in February and has taken on the portfolio of clubs held by its subsidiary Warrior. These clubs include English Premier League outfits Liverpool and Stoke City, along with Spanish Liga team Sevilla and Portuguese Primeira Liga club FC Porto.
Scottish Premiership champion Celtic this month agreed a long-term kit partnership to become the latest major club to partner with New Balance. Panama is currently 61st in Fifa’s men’s rankings. Chinese telecommunications company Huawei last week signed a four-year sponsorship deal with FEPAFUT, representing its first partnership with a national federation.
Richard Wright, general manager of New Balance Football, said: “We are very excited to announce this new chapter in the history of New Balance. We have seen the great displays of Panama in the last Concacaf Gold Cup in 2013 and in qualifying for Brazil 2014 (the Fifa World Cup) and we can say they are a team that is on the rise on the world stage.”